Alan Pardew sweating over Papiss Cisse ftiness ahead of Tottenham Hotspur trip

Alan Pardew is sweating on the fitness of striker Papiss Cisse ahead of Newcastle United's trip to Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.

Cisse has scored four goals for the Magpies since making his comeback from a fractured kneecap, though Pardew has insisted that this new injury is unrelated.

"Cisse has not trained since the last game," is quoted as saying by the Shields Gazette. "He has a slight problem with his knee. We don't think it's anything major. Nothing to do with his previous injury.

"We are sweating a little bit on a few of them, but I am not ruling anyone out or in at this stage. But the mood in training has been much stronger this week. Our resolve has grown, and hopefully our confidence too as a team.

"We have not got a crisis, but we have one or two we are kind of waiting for. Riviere, is he going to be available? Papiss? Cheik Tiote? But we have got players in the group to cope if they don't make it."

One player that will not be turning out for Newcastle anytime soon is Siem de Jong, who has been ruled out until January.