The injury to Cheick Tiote yesterday in the warm-up came as a significant blow to those Newcastle fans who simply can't accept the value of Vurnon Anita, and it's unclear whether he will be back for the Spurs game. The mysterious head injury that forced a last minute change to the starting line-up is a frustration, but if it leads to a longer term absence, Alan Pardew might be forced to reconsider his enduring 4-2-3-1 formation. But then again, nothing has stopped him starting with it so far. Paul Dummett also hobbled out of the game with a muscular problem that could keep him out - though in honesty he was suffering a torrid time on the left, and deserved to be substituted anyway. If he's out Haidara will be a more than adequate replacement, and frankly he should be first choice anyway. But the good news, according to Pardew is that Sammy Ameobi, Mike Williamson and Emmanuel Riviere could be available for Saturdays trip to Spurs. Quite whether any of them would actually start remains to be seen:
Losing Sammy Ameobi, Willo and Manu were blows to us, but hopefully all of those will train this week."
In Williamson's absence, Steven Taylor did well, and Ameobi is unlikely to force Obertan or Gouffran out just yet. Riviere will inevitably be left as Cisse's understudy on the bench. Rolando Aarons continues to make good progress, and could still return from his own injury in the next couple of weeks, but rushing him back would be idiotic in the long term. So a place on the bench against Man City and Liverpool might be more likely. Ryan Taylor meanwhile could be back in contention for a place in the squad, if he gets through the now behind-closed-doors U21 game against Brighton tomorrow.
