Danny Guthrie has given Joe Kinnear and his Newcastle United side a welcome fitness boost after beating the flu that had ravaged him, ahead of Saturday's league clash with West Ham.

The 21-year-old midfielder was initially ruled unfit for the match, but he had made a sharp recovery to the delight of his manager and the supporters. He missed training earlier in the week, but is now up and raring to go.

"I'm fine and looking forward to the game," said the former Liverpool player, as quoted by the official Newcastle United website.

Meanwhile for their trip up to the north-east, West Ham are likely to recall the services of Valon Behrami, Lucas Neill and Matthew Upson, while Manchester City target Scott Parker has returned from suspension and will also be available for the match. Furthermore, Kieron Dyer could keep his place on the bench but he is still not fully fit.

For the Hammers, Robert Green is the only player who has performed in every game, without being substituted and will start at St James Park on Saturday, whereas Lee Bowyer will be making his 50th appearance for the Londoners and Craig Bellamy will be facing one of his former clubs, having played for Newcastle and Liverpool among others in the past. The Wales international made 128 appearances and scored 42 goals for Newcastle between June 2001 and July 2005.

Gianfranco Zola, the West Ham manager, said: "The mood is quite high. The players are performing well but I believe that we can still improve and I'm expecting that we will improve in the next game. I'm very pleased with our away form. The team is looking solid right now and is playing well. The confidence is coming back to everybody, even to the manager!" as quoted by the BBC