STEPHEN Ireland will return to Villa for rehab after a season-ending injury – but Newcastle are still contemplating signing him in the summer for a knockdown price.

Ireland’s calamitous campaign went from bad to worse when he damaged his ankle in only his second appearance for the Magpies in Saturday’s draw at Blackpool.

It means the 24-year-old former Manchester City star only played a total of 49 minutes in his three-month loan spell at St James’ Park.

Ireland made his debut as 69th minute sub in last week’s draw with Manchester United and stepped off the bench on 62 minutes at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

But despite his temporary stint on Tyneside being wrecked by injuries, Toon boss Alan Pardew remains a huge fan of Ireland’s.

Other than an undisclosed loan fee, Ireland did not cost Newcastle much because he was on a pay-as-a-you-play deal with Villa still contributing most of his wages.

Pardew has seen enough of Ireland in training to know that he has potential to be a top player again and is thought to welcome the psychological challenge of restoring him to his best form. However, Villa will struggle to recoup the £6-8 million Ireland was valued at as a makeweight in last summer’s swap deal which took James Milner to Eastlands.

And Newcastle could try to take the misfit off the claret and blues hands with an exploratory offer of up to £4 million, providing Ireland is prepared to accept a heavily- incentivised pay packet.