Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has confirmed that midfielder Yohan Cabaye is to undergo surgery which will sideline him for several weeks, meaning he will miss Sunday's trip to Saints.

The France international will have an operation on his damaged groin either later this week or at the beginning of next week after limping out of the 1-0 Premier League defeat by West Ham two weekends ago.

Ex-Saints manager Pardew, who will be returning to St Mary's for the first time since he was sacked in August 2010, said: ''He will definitely have an operation, and we think it's going to be on Friday or Monday, I'm not sure. That's a blow to us because he's a top player for us.''