Papiss Cisse may not be available to make his Newcastle United against Blackburn Rovers next Wednesday.

Following Senegal's early exit from the African Cup of Nations, it was believed that Cisse and his Magpies teammate Demba Ba would be released from international duty to line up against Rovers.

However, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has admitted that he could be without his striking duo.

"Just because Senegal are going home doesn't necessarily mean they'll be playing for us next week," said Pardew.

"It's not as simple as that and I couldn't really say what their chances are.

"We have to contact Senegal about their plans, because they might want to fly back together as a squad, but we will be pushing to get them back to Newcastle."

Newcastle paid Freiburg around £9m for Cisse earlier this month.

Written by
Liam Apicella