Newcastle United's most expensive signing of last summer has featured for just 45 minutes this season - but Odysseas Vlachodimos may get his belated chance in the first-team when League Two outfit Bromley visit St James' Park this weekend.

The Greek stopper is in contention for Sunday's FA Cup showdown after Martin Dubravka's hectic schedule of late as Eddie Howe looks to ring the changes. Vlachodimos has been arguably the most low-key arrival of the season despite a £20m signing fee in a deal that saw Elliot Anderson move to Nottingham Forest in the opposite direction.

The writing has been on the wall for some time, with the 30-year-old instantly slotting in as Newcastle's third-choice goalkeeper at a time where Dubravka was too linked with a transfer. Vlachodimos has therefore found himself situated alongside Mark Gillespie and fellow summer signing John Ruddy as one of the training ground leaders in Howe's goalkeeping setup.

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"He's been excellent behind the scenes. He's a really, lovely lad, really nice person, he's got a really nice way about him, very smiley, happy,'" the Newcastle boss told reporters on Friday. "But you can see he's driven and he's a vastly experienced goalkeeper, so I think he's added a lot to the training group.

"He's been actively involved in all training that we've done and he's become a really well liked member of the team, well liked member of the goalkeeping team, but also the first team. So he's been excellent with his conduct around the building."

Dubravka's potential exit looms, despite Howe seeking to keep the Slovakian on Tyneside beyond the January window. Vlachodimos was offered his loan own exit weeks after arriving at St James' Park but chose to stay put and be patient for his opportunities.

A start in the third round showdown this weekend will hand the experienced stopper his chance to prove that summer decision was the right one.