ALAN PARDEW has told Hatem Ben Arfa to forget about returning to Newcastle United.

Hull City are set to terminate the Frenchman’s loan next month and with six months remaining on his deal at St James’ Park he would be in line to head back to Tyneside.

But Pardew is keen for the 27-year-old to stay away from Newcastle over fears that he will have a negative effect on the healthy team spirit built up during a climb in to the Premier League’s top seven.

If Ben Arfa fails to find a new club to play for the rest of the season then there is every chance he will be training alone.

Pardew said: “He won’t be coming back here, that’s all I can say.”

Ben Arfa has infuriated Hull boss Steve Bruce who has suggested he will not be keeping him at the KC Stadium for the rest of the campaign.

Newcastle have impressed in recent weeks and Pardew does not want to anything to rock the boat – even more so if they can defeat Tottenham on Wednesday night.

The Magpies face Spurs in the quarter-final of the Capital One Cup at White Hart Lane and excitement is building at St James’ at the possibility of a rare cup final appearance at Wembley.

Pardew, whose side then face Sunderland on Sunday, said: “We are looking forward to it. We are excited to be in it. There are some good teams in the competition, which goes to show the standard it has this year.

“We are looking forward to going to Spurs, who are in a similar position to us and are desperate to get through too. It's a tough place to go and they are in great form at the moment.

“It's a difficult game, but our last two were difficult too, both away games. We have a really big week in front of us in terms of two great games and we are going to try to win them both.

“There's a bit of a cushion between them, which helps. I don't see one of the games as any less important that the other. One is three points in a derby and the other is a quarter-final in a major cup.”