Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has asked the fans to show their support to young midfielder Haris Vuckic after the midfielder was ruled out for more than six months.

The 20-year-old was playing for the Newcastle reserve side against Aston Villa on Monday night when he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury and now faces a race to bit fit before the end of the season.

Alan Pardew
Pardew has asked fans to back midfielder Haris Vuckic after he was ruled out for six months [Reuters]

"I think Haris knew straight away it was a serious injury," Pardew told the Daily Mail. "If our fans want to send him any messages, I think that would be appropriate, because he is hurt."

Despite making just 14 appearances in the Newcastle first team since moving to the club back in January 2009, Vuckic is a Slovenia international and arrived at the club with a big reputation.

He had been hoping to make an impact in the first team this season but he has now admitted that he will struggle to be able to recover before the end of the current campaign.

"I immediately knew that something is very wrong and I suspected that it could be cruciate ligament and the medical examination proved that,'" Vuckic told Ekipa.

"Now I have to wait for the swelling in the knee to go away. Then I will have surgery and four to six months of rest.

"It is very difficult, especially mentally. But I know that I will be okay, I know that doctors will take care of me, but it will require time and a lot of patience.

"I'm very sad. I was very close to the first team, I was getting a chance in Europa League and after long time I felt really great. But injuries are part of sport and football. I could feel sorry for myself, that would be easier, but I won't. I'm not like that so I will do everything in my power to come back even stronger."