Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has backed Demba Ba to start hitting the net again soon, as his early-season goalscoring form has recently dissipated.
Ba has only scored once since countryman Papiss Cisse joined the club, with his fellow Senegal international hogging all the limelight since the pair returned from the African Cup of Nations.
Despite this, Pardew feels Ba could end the goal-drought against Swansea on Friday.
“Demba isn’t going to be happy if he’s not scoring goals,” the Toon boss told reporters, covered by Sky Sports.
“It’s just the nature of the beast. He’s a goalscorer so Papiss (Cisse) getting all the goals and getting all the credit isn’t going to keep him happy.
“I hope he gets angry on Friday and slaps a couple in himself,” he admitted.
Newcastle can leapfrog Chelsea into fifth place with a win at the Liberty Stadium, but Pardew knows that his men are in for a tough test.
“We’ve managed to beat teams who are on their game and that’s very important.
“We’ve had a couple of upsets here and there in a positive way and upsets in a negative way, but what we have been is consistent.
“It’s a very competitive league. We’ve been competitive every game.
“You play teams in tides really. Sometimes the tide is in and sometimes the tide is out.
“Swansea have lost a couple and their tide is out a little bit and we’re very much in and that will even that fixture up as Swansea away is a very difficult game,” he concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
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