Pardew has been dealt a major blow by the news that his star striker is out of Sunday's Premier League trip to Wigan.
The 21-year-old was due to undergo a scan on a thigh injury on Friday, but it is understood he has already been ruled out of the game at the DW Stadium and is struggling to make Wednesday night's clash with West Ham at St James' Park.
Pardew will have to come up with something new as he attempts to bounce back from successive defeats by Manchester City and Tottenham over Christmas.
Alan Pardew: “Andy’s got a thigh injury, and it’s being assessed.
“But it looks unlikely that he’ll play.”
However, Pardew does have Shola Ameobi back from the hamstring problem (which kept him out of the last two fixtures) and he also has Nile Ranger, Peter Lovenkrands and Leon Best available.