Pardew happy with Toon striking options

Shola Ameobi impressed in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Norwich City, which represented Newcastle's third Premier League win in succession.

Manager Pardew also has Loic Remy, who has scored eight goals this season, and Papiss Cisse at his disposal, while Hatem Ben Arfa has had to settle for a place on the bench for each of the club's recent wins.

Discussing Ameobi’s fine recent form, Pardew said: "It's very rare that I've played Shola and had a bad game out of him. I can name three or four since I've been here.

"He's got to keep that consistency though, because he's got real competition up there now.

"Loic is almost nailed on with the goals he's scoring, but Papiss is knocking on the door and Hatem.

"He (Ameobi) needs to play well and he did (against Norwich) so fair play to him.

"He's had that competition from a lot of players here and at the minute he's keeping them at bay and good for him."