... twisted his knee on the training ground and suffered a second cruciate ligament injury after seven months of rehabilitation trying to recover from the first.
Pardew won't rush Ryan Taylor
But he has come through two behind-closed-doors friendlies unscathed and is looking to get back into the first team squad as soon as possible.
However, the 30-year-old is unlikely to involved in Saturday’s visit of Leicester City to St James’ Park, as Alan Pardew feels it is a couple of weeks too early.
Alan Pardew: "Ryan played back-to-back games with Carlisle United and Burnley and came through it well.
"He played for 70 minutes against Burnley last week, but we are taking it a step at a time.
"After all he has been through we don't want to bring him back too early."