CHEIK TIOTE, Gabriel Obertan and Leon Best are all expected to be available when Newcastle travel to Manchester United on Saturday.

And in a further boost to the Magpies, opposition striker Wayne Rooney has emerged as a major injury doubt for the weekend after missing Tuesday’s Champions League game with Benfica with a hip injury.

Tiote, Obertan and Best all missed last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, a game that saw Newcastle relinquish their unbeaten league record at the 12th time of asking.

Obertan and Best have both returned to full training, having completed their recovery from toe and groin injuries respectively.

Tiote’s knee problem was more severe and is therefore being treated more carefully, but the Ivory Coast international is still on target to make his comeback at Old Trafford.

Tiote will go straight back into Newcastle’s starting lineup if available, but Alan Pardew will spend the next two days pondering whether to restore Obertan and Best to the starting XI.

Obertan’s pace and energy is likely to win him the nod over Danny Guthrie, Dan Gosling and Sammy Ameobi, but it remains to be seen whether Best is recalled in place of Hatem Ben Arfa, who was the Magpies’ most effective attacker at the Etihad Stadium.

Having lost to the league leaders, things are unlikely to get much easier when Newcastle take on second-placed Manchester United, but Rooney’s absence would be a welcome development, given his superb scoring record against this weekend’s opponents.

Rooney has scored nine goals in 13 matches against Newcastle since leaving Everton, but is struggling with a hip injury sustained in last weekend’s win at Swansea.

He did not make the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League draw with Benfica and will not be risked on Saturday if there are any doubts about his fitness.

Manchester United travel to Basle in less than two weeks time needing to avoid defeat to progress to the Champions League’s knockout phase, and Sir Alex Ferguson will treat the trip to Switzerland as his number one priority.

“He wasn’t fit (to face Benfica), so we need to wait to see what he is like over the next few days,” said Ferguson. “We will give him every chance, of course, but we did (on Tuesday) and he wasn’t really fit, so we’ll just have to wait.”

Regardless of whether Rooney plays or not, Newcastle will return to Manchester in confident mood despite last weekend’s setback at the hands of City.

Midfielder Yohan Cabaye was unable to make much of an impression against the league leaders’ defence, but the Frenchman will be urging his team-mates to adopt an attacking approach in two days time.

“We want to win against Manchester United and I think we can,” said Cabaye.

“We will be playing for a win on Saturday.

“This is a big game at a big stadium, but it’s good for us.

This week we have a tough game against Man United and then Chelsea at home. They are two good games, but two tough games.

“We can test what we are made of and what we can do.

We must see what we can do against the league’s big teams.”

Today’s Football League loan deadline could see one or two of Newcastle’s fringe players leaving Tyneside on a temporary basis.

Nile Ranger has already left to join Barnsley, and the Magpies’ hierarchy are also receptive to approaches for Haris Vuckic, Shane Ferguson and Tamas Kadar.