Newcastle United boss hails return of ‘iconic’ players
BACK IN TOON ... Cheik Tiote is raring to go against Wolves.
ALAN Pardew has his “iconic players” back for Newcastle United – and they’re ready to maul Wolves.
Pardew welcomes back Yohan Cabaye from suspension and Cheik Tiote from the African Cup of Nations for Saturday’s game.
Cabaye has been banned for three games, and his fellow midfielder Tiote hasn’t featured since last month’s win over Manchester United.
United were beaten 5-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in their last outing, but they’re sixth in the Premier League, and a win would lift them into fifth place ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby on March 4.
“Now I have my strongest squad to pick from since Man United,” said Pardew.
“We’ve come through the period without our iconic players, with some fantastic results still.
“That’s where we are. We’re hurt, but we’re still in a great position. We’re looking forward.
“Fifth in the table with a win has got to be the objective. That’s what we will work on between now and Saturday.
“We’re still disappointed with the Tottenham result, and I’ve seen that on the training ground this week.
“By our own standards, we need to make sure that never happens again.
“More importantly, we have two home games. Our home form’s good – we’ve won our last three. Our home form’s strong.”
Tiote returned to training on Monday after a short break after the tournament, in which his Ivory Coast team were agonisingly beaten in the final by Zambia on penalties.
Pardew went on: “Everybody’s fit. Cheik’s come back on the training ground and lifted everything.
“That’s because of the way he trains. One or two have felt his presence! That’s in a good way!”
The Wolves game will also see Papiss Demba Cisse – who marked his home debut against Aston Villa with a goal – start alongside his Senegal team-mate Demba Ba.
“It’ll be a full home debut,” said Pardew. “Our fans will be coming along to see how he performs, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to let them down. We’re all looking forward to it.”
Meanwhile, Pardew has warned his players to be wary of third-bottom Wolves, despite them having yet to appoint a new manager to replace Mick McCarthy.
“We come in against a team who haven’t got a manager in place,” he said. “We have to expect one may be on the sidelines on Saturday, and that would give an impact to Wolves.
“More importantly, regardless to what’s happening at Wolves, a win would leave us in fifth place.”
Twitter: @milesstarforth
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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