 MARLON Harewood still has plenty of work to do if he is going to earn a permanent move to Newcastle United after Chris Hughton revealed he has not made a decision on the striker’s future. Harewood scored twice in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Swansea – taking his tally to three goals in 10 appearances – and has gradually improved after an uninspiring start to his time at St James’ Park in a loan move from Aston Villa. The 30-year-old is desperate to stay on Tyneside, and has instructed his agent to try to arrange a permanent switch when the January transfer window opens. Hughton, though, is sensibly keeping his options open as he tries to plan for a recruitment drive in the New Year which will hopefully put the finishing touches to a squad with its sights fixed firmly on an immediate Premier League return. He said: “We have not made a decision on Marlon, not yet. We are constantly looking at it and it is an ongoing thing. “As things stand he is here until the end of December, but we are looking at it. “We always knew we would see the best from Marlon once he had a few games under his belt. “He lacked fitness when he arrived because he had missed a big chunk of pre-season.He has become stronger and better. “With all strikers, he will be feeling a lot better about himself after those two goals, and hopefully there are more to come from him because that is what the team needs. “He gives us another option up front, but I am not going to make any announcement about his future at this stage.” Hughton is convinced he will be able to hold on to all his players in January, although there is interest in a number of them from top-flight clubs. Instead, the former Tottenham defender is concentrating on bringing players in, but admits he is finding it difficult to have anything agreed at this stage – despite reports a deal was already in place for Sheffield United centre-back Matthew Kilgallon. He added: “We have no deals in place with anyone. “Nothing has been decided at all and it is always changing. “You can try to plan the best you can, but the situation is always shifting and someone who was not available last week might become available next month. “We have an idea about which players we are trying to bring in, but we will have to wait and see whether we can actually get them. “I am not expecting a particularly busy January. “Nobody will be leaving, I am confident about that, but we are looking to strengthen and that is where we are concentrating our efforts. “The aim is, when the transfer window shuts at the end of January, to have a squad here which has the best possible chance of going back into the Premier League, so nobody will be going anywhere. “It is about bringing players in to improve what we have already have.” One player Hughton will be able to add to his plans is Shola Ameobi. The striker failed to make the bench again for the Swansea game, but Hughton knows he is close to a return. The 28-year-old scored five goals in just five games at the start of the campaign before picking up a stress fracture on his foot and is seen as a vital part of the team by Hughton, even though he has resisted the temptation to rush him back into the squad. He said: “Shola was close at the weekend, but he had only had five days training with the team and we felt he needed more of that under his belt before he came into a game situation. “He is fine, though, and we expect him to be involved soon. “The good thing for me as a manager is our good run has meant I don’t have to rush him.” | 
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