Ba: Save boos for board, not me

Newcastle’s hat-trick hero Demba Ba said the boos of Stoke fans should be aimed at the owners of the club – not him.

The Senegalese forward was hounded by jeers on his every touch in the English Premier League match at the Britannia, having failed to win a move to Stoke in January amid reports of him failing a medical.

The striker, who went on to sign for West Ham instead before joining Newcastle in the off-season, scored all three of Newcastle’s goals in the 3-1 victory and was quick to blame the Potters’ directors for the transfer breaking down.

“If (the fans) want to boo somebody they have to boo their board, because they didn’t want to sign me,” Ba told Sky Sports, who was clearly delighted with his second hat-trick for the club.

“Today I’m very happy to score a hat-trick there because it’s a place where when you come you struggle to win … and today we were terrific as a team.”

When quizzed on Newcastle’s defence, still the tightest in the league, Ba praised the way that his side press from the front.

“It’s very important when you have strikers who can run and defend, and today with Besty (Leon Best) we did our best for the team, and at the back we were very strong,” he said.