Pardew sweating on Ba fitness

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is concerned over the fitness of Demba Ba ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Liverpool.

Ba, 27, limped off with a shin injury during the second half of his side’s 2-1 victory against West Brom.

The Senegal international will have a scan on his leg later in the week and, while Pardew does not think the problem is serious, he concedes it could rule him out of the clash with the Reds.

“Demba appears to have a bit of a nerve problem,” Pardew told Sky Sports.

“It is not a major concern and I don’t think it is an ongoing problem, but the major question is whether he can make next week.”

Although Ba has been in fantastic form for Newcastle of late – racking up seven goals in his last nine games – Pardew has a wealth of attacking options available to him.

The 51-year-old started Shola Ameobi up front on Sunday, and brought on Sammy Ameobi and Papiss Cisse late in the game, with Cisse netting the winner

“Sammy looks to provide a little bit of a spark for us,” Pardew said.

“I was searching for some sort of lift for the team and I thought he was very positive for us. We changed the system a couple of times and he tried to create for us.”