Newcastle United caretaker boss Chris Hughton is ready to send an SOS to little-used Brazilian defender Cacapa.

Cacapa, 32, has not started a game since November, but his experience makes him a genuine candidate as he fights his way from a knee problem.

Hughton said: "Depending on what we have with (Sebastien) Bassong and (Steven) Taylor, he may figure.

"Sometimes it's about 'needs must'. If he's in a position to be fit - injury-free - of course he will come into the reckoning. I would be talking about bringing him into the squad.

"I'm reasonably confident that one of the two - Bassong or Taylor - will be fit, but it's 'needs must' sometimes.

"Cacapa is a very experienced player. Sometimes it happens that you bring players back in before you expect them to be ready - it happened with Habib Beye on Saturday.

"In an ideal world, we would have given him another week, but he's a quality player and an experienced player, and he can do that."