STEVE McCLAREN is waiting to discover if Seydou Doumbia is eligible to make his Newcastle United debut in tomorrow’s game at Everton.

Doumbia signed a season-long loan from Roma yesterday, but the Magpies are still waiting for the Ivory Coast international to receive his visa enabling him to work in the UK.

Provided that comes through at some stage tomorrow, the striker is set to be included in the squad that will travel to Goodison Park.

However, given that he has not trained for a fortnight or played a competitive game for six weeks, it is unlikely that the former CSKA Moscow forward will start ahead of Aleksandar Mitrovic.

“We’re hoping (that he will be available), but it’s touch and go,” said McClaren. “If not tomorrow, then definitely Saturday.

“We’re hoping that he’ll provide goals – he’s got a record of that. He’s not played in the Premier League and hasn’t trained for a couple of weeks, but he adds to the squad and provides competition for places.”

Newcastle failed to bring in a left-back despite attempting to sign Guilherme Siqueira, Lucas Orban and Jose Enrique in the final few weeks of the window, but Paul Dummett is available for tomorrow’s game and both Massadio Haidara and Kevin Mbabu should be available within the next three weeks.

“Paul Dummett has been training in the last three or four days and should be okay,” said McClaren. “Jack Colback is very, very close.

“Haidara will be a couple of weeks until he is back on the grass training with us, so by the Stoke games he should be fit. What we will see over the next three or four weeks is the squad getting stronger with the injured players coming back.”

Monday’s transfer deadline passed with Saido Berahino still at West Brom despite Newcastle tabling a £21m bid for his services.

It is anticipated the Magpies will make another attempt to sign the England Under-21 international in the summer, and McClaren feels their intensive efforts to secure a January deal underlined the extent of their ambitions.

“I think it would have been a bonus,” he said. “When we got together with the board and discussed it, it was ambitious. It was out there making a statement, and I think it would have been a bonus if it had come off.”

Newcastle spent more than £28m signing Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and Henri Saivet, as well as capturing Doumbia on loan, and McClaren is confident the club’s January activity will ensure they successfully avoid relegation despite their current position in the bottom three.

“We are delighted with what we’ve got, and (it’s) enough to see us through,” he said. “I think we’ve done great business, four very good signings. We talked about it yesterday – myself and Lee (Charnley) – and said that if you’d said we would have signed the likes of Townsend and Shelvey – two top quality, young England internationals – by the end of the window, we’d have said you were crazy in the beginning.

“But we got them, added to Henri coming in and Doumbia right at the death, so I am absolutely delighted with what we’ve done.”