Alan Pardew: “I haven’t laid down a challenge to my strikers, but if you’re a player at a football club and you read about new signings, it does raise your game.
“I had it at Crystal Palace and if I was going to get replaced, it makes you think, ‘What about me?’
"That’s good and you step up.
“Managers are always looking to replace players with better ones and you’ve got to prove yourself when you step up a division like Leon has done.
"Leon was very unlucky not to score (against Blackburn).
"His replacement seems to have been on his way here for 16 months, ever since we got promoted. It hurts you into proving people wrong.
“Maybe the mistake on my part was putting him (Demba Ba) in too early.
“He said to me when I signed him he was going to fight for the team and you have to acknowledge not just his goals but his all-round play.
“He filled in for us, made tackles and linked the play. Him and Besty had as good a game as a strike-force as any since I’ve been at this club.
“They were not typical goals from Demba. He is a poacher.
"I’m really pleased for him because it’s not easy being a striker at Newcastle, whether you’re a big name or not.
"There is huge pressure to deliver.
“I talked a little bit about the pressure when he signed, because it’s different to West Ham (Ba’s previous club), where there’s a different type of pressure.”