Pardew rules out striker buy

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says it will be unlikely that he signs another striker in the January transfer window.

Senegalese forward Demba Ba has starred for Newcastle this season, scoring 14 goals, but he will miss a fair chunk of football over the next few weeks due to national duty.

Ba has been selected in his country’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 and Pardew attempted to fill the void with the signing of Sochaux striker Modibo Maiga.

But Maiga recently failed his medical at the Premier League outfit and Pardew conceded that he will have to cope without Ba instead of replacing him.

“I don’t think we will be bringing in a striker in this window after the collapse of (Modibo) Maiga which we had put a lot of work into,” Pardew said.

“I think as far as we’re concerned we’ll stick with what we have got. It was just unfortunate (that he failed his medical). It was unfortunate for the player.”

“You can imagine the player is probably more disappointed than anybody else, but these things happen.”

Pardew’s men travel to Anfield on Friday for an exciting Premier League encounter at Liverpool and the Newcastle boss is hoping that Liverpool again slip-up in front of their home fans.

“I think their home form has been disappointing for Kenny (Dalglish) and you have to say that they will be under pressure to win this game. Hopefully that can be of benefit for us,” he said.