ISLAM SLIMANI has been training on his own at Algeria’s national football centre in an attempt to ensure his availability for Newcastle United’s weekend trip to Bournemouth.

Slimani was nursing a thigh injury when he joined Newcastle on loan from Leicester City on deadline day, and was forced to sit out the games against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

Like the rest of the Magpies squad, he was given the weekend off because of the club’s early exit from the FA Cup, with Rafael Benitez having given him permission to return to Algeria to spend time with his family.

Slimani has spent the last few days in his homeland, and is due to return to Newcastle’s Benton training base with the rest of his team-mates this morning, but the striker has not allowed his recovery period to lapse during his time in North Africa.

He attended the Sidi Moussa training centre, which is the base for the Algerian national team, and worked with some of the coaches that normally oversee the training sessions during an international week.

It remains to be seen whether he is given the green light to join in full training on Tyneside this morning, but Magpies sources are confident he has done everything possible to give himself the best chance of facing Bournemouth this weekend.

Benitez will be hoping he is available for the trip to the Vitality Stadium, as his unavailability against Leicester means he can only feature in ten games during his loan spell from the King Power Stadium.

The first of those ten matches comes this weekend, and while Dwight Gayle led the line impressively during the recent 1-0 win over Manchester United, last season’s leading goalscorer only boasts three goals in the whole of the current campaign.

Joselu has notched four times, but Benitez pushed for Slimani’s signing in an attempt to increase his side’s goalscoring threat in the final three months of the season, and will be hoping the January arrival is at least able to feature on the substitutes’ bench on Saturday.

Benitez will spend the next few days pondering his starting line-up at Bournemouth, with Mo Diame’s recent form making it extremely difficult to leave the midfielder out of the starting XI.

Diame only started one of Newcastle’s first 12 Premier League matches this term, but his appearance against Manchester United means he has now kicked off eight of the club’s last nine games.

His versatility has proved a major asset, as he has played as a ‘number ten’ and in a more withdrawn role, and he is hoping to maintain his recent high standards right through to the end of the season.

“As I have said before, it wasn’t easy for me (earlier in the season), but I kept working and I feel better every game,” said Diame. “Hopefully, I can be a regular for the rest of the season and give good performances.

“You need to work hard in training, and make it a difficult choice from the manager as to who makes his starting XI.”

Bournemouth are three points clear of Newcastle in the table after losing just one of their last eight games, but the Magpies will travel to the south coast full of confidence after recording their first win of the season against a top-six side in their last outing.

“We need to keep working to stay focused because it is going to be a big fight until the end,” said Diame. “With the last result, we go there confident.

“Every game we play, we are going out there to win. It doesn’t matter who we play against – we need to keep our shape and that way we are working hard in training, and in the game.”