Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has revealed Papiss Cisse will not definitely be available to make his debut against Blackburn.
Pardew to contact Senegal; Coloccini a doubt for Brighton game
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has revealed £9million man Papiss Cisse will not definitely be available to make his debut against Blackburn.
In the wake of Senegal's shock Africa Cup of Nations exit, it had been speculated the striker would available to feature in next Wednesday's Premier League game at Ewood Park.
But having earlier in January paid Freiburg big money for Cisse, Pardew has revealed the issue is more complicated and depends on the demands of the forward's international set-up.
"Just because Senegal are going home doesn't necessarily mean they'll be playing for us next week," said the Newcastle boss, who would ideally like to partner Cisse with compatriot Demba Ba.
"It's not as simple as that and I couldn't really say what their chances are.
"We have to contact Senegal about their plans, because they might want to fly back together as a squad, but we will be pushing to get them back to Newcastle."
Damage
Pardew is also wary that 15-goal top scorer Ba and Cisse could carry some mental scars from highly fancied Senegal's miserable cup campaign, which ended after successive defeats to Zambia and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea despite a game still to come against Libya.
"I hope they're not too damaged because, considering Senegal's ranking, they'll be disappointed by the two results so far," said Pardew.
"And they still have one game to go, which will be difficult with them already being out.
"But the plus side is that they are heading back here and they will definitely be involved for the Aston Villa game on Sunday week and that is a big bonus for us."
On the more immediate horizon for Newcastle is Saturday's FA Cup game at Brighton, where the visitors could be without captain Fabricio Coloccini due to a groin injury.
Pardew said: "We'll just have to wait and see, but at this stage he's a doubt."
