Ameobi’s injury-time strike in last season’s game at St James’s Park took his Tyne-Wear goal tally to seven. Only Jackie Milburn (11) has scored more league goals against Sunderland than Ameobi, who is vying with Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse for a start.
Alan Pardew: “Shola is in my thoughts, I think he’s done that.
“Shola, Papiss and Demba, you could draw a line across them at the moment, and I wouldn’t put one in front of the other.
“If I have one criticism of myself in the last game, the three subs didn’t make a big enough impact.
“That’s something, my substitutions, that I pride myself on. Mostly, I’ve been fortunate in getting those right, but I got that wrong against Man United.
“The art of today’s football is being tactically aware.
“You’re preparing as strong, if not better than the opposition, and you’re motivating your players, and that matchday, you make the right calls.
“That’s a really big part of football management.
“A lot of games are balanced by substitutions, and putting fresh players in at the right times, more so than any other time because of the level of the physical game.”