Jonas fit to face City

11:09am Wednesday 15th October 2008

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JONAS Gutierrez has given Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear some much-needed good news by confirming he’s fit and ready to face Manchester City next Monday evening. The 25- year-old Argentine injured his collarbone while on international duty against Peru last month but is confident that he’s made a full recovery.

“I am OK to come back. It was a fracture, which is a serious injury, so it stopped me from coming back after the international game. But I feel strong and good to play in the next match.

Now I have to wait and see whether the manager wants to play me,” said Gutierrez who has done his homework on his new boss – the third manager he’s played under since joining the Magpies in July.

“I like Joe, he is a good manager. I didn’t know much about him but when I knew that he was going to be the manager I started reading up on him so I knew a lot by the time I met him. I read about his time at Wimbledon and saw he is a great manager and it is good that we have got him in charge now.

“I think he is a great boss.

We have to listen to him, to do what he wants and to be with him as long as he is here.

“I don’t know whether he will be here for a long time.

I think he signed a short contract but we have to work as hard as we can for him,” he said.

The winger, one of the few highlights in a lacklustre campaign, hopes that the club can enjoy a period of relative stability.

He said: “We don’t know what will happen but for us it would be very good if we had a manager until the end of the season.

“It’s good for the team to have a manager that will finish the season but we don’t know what will happen.

“It was a surprise what happened with Kevin Keegan and I was sad to see him go. The results were going well so it was surprise that the manager left, but we are players and we must play well for Joe now.’’ He added: “I have only thought about football since I have been here. I don’t really understand what has happened at the club and it is difficult to talk about it. I prefer to only think about the football and nothing more, because I do not know about the reasons for the changes.

“I am enjoying it very much. I love the city, I love the place and it is ideal for me. I know that I have come to a big team and I want to be here a long time.’’