ISLAM SLIMANI is due back on Tyneside and will be carefully monitored before Rafael Benitez determines whether he is fit enough to make his long-awaited Newcastle United debut on Saturday.

If he is given the go-ahead to figure against Huddersfield then that is likely to be part of a double boost for manager Benitez, who is relieved to see Matt Ritchie’s slight groin problem ease.

Slimani was described as looking unfit in reports reflecting on his substitute appearance for Algeria on Tuesday night, when they lost 2-1 to Iran.

That reversal piled the pressure on head coach Rabah Madjer and the Algerian FA, although on a personal level it marked a return to action for the Magpies striker.

Despite lacking match fitness, Slimani felt no ill-effects after the defeat but nothing will be taken for granted by Benitez who is keen to avoid putting too much strain on the thigh injury which had prevented him from playing since mid-January.

The 29-year-old, ironically whose last Premier League appearance and goal was against Huddersfield on New Year’s Day, is now expected to be part of the Newcastle squad for the first time this weekend.

Newcastle paid a £1.5m loan fee to Leicester when he made the deadline day switch at the end of January but his injury has prevented him from appearing in the two months he has been with the club.

Benitez was not particularly happy that he had been called up by Algeria when he had not played at club level, however he was happy enough for him to make his return to action so that he could help build his fitness ahead of the relegation run-in.

It would not be Benitez’s style to throw Slimani straight into his starting line-up given Dwight Gayle’s recent performances, which have helped Newcastle lose just one of their last six matches to give the fight for survival a real boost.

But the presence of a different attacking option on the bench should lift everyone, including the fans, given the important of playing a Terriers team very much in the battle to stay up with Newcastle this season.

Newcastle sit just a point above David Wagner’s side ahead of their visit to St James’ Park, while there is an extra three point cushion to the relegation places going into the final eight matches of the season.

Goals have started to flow since the turn of the year; the only league game Newcastle have failed to find the net in since December 30 was at Liverpool on March 3.

Winger Ritchie has contributed to that with his displays and has started to reach somewhere near the sort of performances which made him a hot prospect in the Championship title charge last season.

Benitez was concerned with his fitness when he was forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad following his appearance in the defeat to Costa Rica at the start of the international break.

He played 87 minutes of that fixture, and pulling out as a precaution with a groin problem meant he was back in the North-East rather than appear in the friendly win in Budapest against Hungary on Tuesday.

But Ritchie has handed Benitez his second boost by resuming training ahead of the Huddersfield test. He will continue to be assessed but there are not thought to be any major issues. That is a bonus given he has scored in both of the last two home matches.

While Slimani and Ritchie will attempt to keep Newcastle up, the challenge is on Aleksandar Mitrovic to power Fulham to the top-flight with them.

And Mitrovic’s excellent form continued for his country on Tuesday when he scored twice to help Serbia defeat Nigeria at Barnet’s Hive Stadium – leaving his manager Mladen Krstajic to claim he will get a big move this summer.

Mitrovic has scored nine goals in seven games for club and country since leaving Newcastle on loan, where he couldn’t get a look in under Benitez.

Krstajic said: “Mitrovic was very lucky to be coached by (Fulham boss Slavisa) Jokanovic, a coach from Serbia who knows him very well.

“Mitrovic did a very good thing in choosing to come to Fulham. I’m sure that after the loan he will move to an even bigger, better club where he can do much better.

“Personally it’s a great pleasure to have a player such as Mitrovic in our squad. He’s a killer up front, which he proved for us.”