Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton has told Steven Taylor he will be counting on him next season.
Taylor, who is yet to sign a new contract despite moving into the final year of his current deal, is available again after a rocky end to 2010 - and Hughton says he has a big part to play in the upcoming Premier League campaign.
"Steven will be raring to go," Hughton told The Journal. "He missed the last period of the season last time around, but he's had a good summer. He'll come back in good shape and I would expect nothing less from Steven - he's a good athlete and I'm pleased to have him back.
"He's ready to feature and there's no problems. He left the training ground at the end of the season fully fit but we left him out of the QPR match because he hadn't had enough training. We didn't want to risk him for the sake of one game."
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