Pardew excited by Cisse, Sissoko

24 February 2013 19:44

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew believes Moussa Sissoko is a better attacking partner for Papiss Cisse than Demba Ba.

Ba moved to Chelsea for 8.7 million euros in January after netting 13 goals in 20 games for the English Premier League club.

Speaking after his side's important 4-2 win over Southampton on Sunday, Pardew said his attack had more balance with the former Toulouse man.

He told reporters: "I've been saying for a long time since I arrived at this club that we've never really had a natural number 10 because in the modern game, you need to have that.

"Moussa came in and is much better at that (than Ba). Obviously Demba's a striker, he plays that number nine role for Chelsea, but we have Papiss.

"It gives us different options, a bit more freedom to attack thanks to his natural ability and defensive attitude, we need it. I think it's a better combination than what we had before."

Pardew believes the win over Southampton has set his side up for a late-season tilt at the top half of the table and hailed Cisse for his 35-yard strike that put Newcastle 2-1 up at half-time.

"Look at the league table and we've now put ourselves in a position to attack 10th, and that was why it was important to get victory today," he said.

"We should attack the top 10 now and we can with this team, it's a considerable difference to six weeks ago, with people returning and the new players.

"(Cisse's goal) reminded me of that goal of the season from Alan (Shearer against Everton) many years ago here, a dipping volley.

"As soon as he hit it you sensed it was in and of course the net ripples. He's got that in him, Papiss, he's done it before but it was a really fantastic one today."

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino felt his side deserved to win the game and criticised referee Martin Atkinson for not giving a foul in the build-up to Cisse's goal.

"We are very sad about the result, especially taking into account how well we started," Pochettino said.

"After we got the first goal, we didn't really control the game as we should have.

"Especially the second goal, it's clear that there was a foul on (Nathaniel) Clyne and it's clear that there's an offside on the images. It's not a complaint but these had an influence on the end result of the match.

"I do have confidence in my team. We played a very good second half and deserved to win the match. The small details make it so that we leave St James' Park empty-handed.

"It is obvious that we will stay in the Premier League."