Demba Ba & Papiss Cisse for Newcastle vs Aston Villa 'Tough Call'
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has admitted that the returning Demba Ba and new mega signing Papiss Cisse being back in the UK for Sunday's Premier League tie against Aston Villa has given him a selection headache
Its a tough call on Sunday as to what were going to do with Cisse and Demba, Best was sick, but he was brilliant against Blackburn.With Senegal crashing out of the African Cup of Nations prematurely at the group stages, high flying Newcastle have welcomed back Ba and his International colleague Cisse to the North East. As long as neither are jet-lagged (they came back into the UK yesterday and should be ok), then they should be match fit given their International games and raring to go as Newcastle are looking to secure a European slot with The Magpies currently fifth in the table, above Arsenal and Liverpool. Newcastle fans on the North East are just desperate to see what Cisse, a £10 million signing in January, can bring to the table and his previous record promises goals. His price tag meant he had to be given the number 9 shirt and if he is anything like the players who have worn it before him and the man he fields alongside for his country then Newcastle can expect plenty of goals as they move into the final third of the season. So the big question now is whether Pardew will field either man from the start? The last couple of games have seen Shola Ameobi & Leon Best lumber ineffectively up front, with Ameobi's legs seemingly giving up on him and his lack of desire to get into the box for goals and Best's work-rate being high, but lack of composure and finishing in front of goal letting him down. Will both men be dropped to the bench to make way for the returning front men? I'm guessing Best, if he gets over his sickness, will start alongside Ba with Cisse on the bench to come on in the second half. But I could be wrong, he could start the game. Pardew also made some interesting further comments at the press-conference;
These players deserve everything that theyre getting at the moment the Bests, the Lovenkrands and the Perchs. Theyre the ones that are important when youre trying to achieve something special.Indeed, Peter Lovenkrands came on in the dying moments in Wednesday night's victory against Blackburn Rovers and looked sharp and fit, winning a header in an attacking area and closing play down more than Ameobi did in almost ninety minutes. Also interesting is the mention of James Perch. The player has being excellent in the last two games of the season and we could easily see Pardew preferring to play him against Aston Villa instead of Hatem Ben Arfa who can be a liability when he gives the ball away so cheaply so often in the middle of the park. Perch replaced Ben Arfa at the mid way point of the game against Blackburn and they looked more solid because of it.