Ben Arfa has been out of action since suffering ankle ligament damage during the club's ill-fated pre-season tour of the United States.
However, Pardew was pleasantly surprised by the physical condition in which he returned to training earlier this week and is hoping he can play some part in the Carling Cup third round tie at Nottingham Forest on September 20.
Alan Pardew: "Hatem's progress has been better than we thought - he's certainly ahead of schedule.
"When he came back this week, we were not expecting him to be in perhaps as good a condition as he is in.
"I have earmarked the Forest game as maybe an opportunity for him to play a part in that game.
"We will have to see how he goes, but so far, his injury looks really good and his fitness looks good too."
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