Alan Pardew: “I feel for Demba Ba. The pre-season was hampered by Ramadan* for him. I think he’ll get sharper as we go along.
“When he came on against Fulham, I thought he did well in that period and made the second goal.
“It’s about confidence, you need performances to give you confidence.
“When he gets his first goal, that’ll give him another bit of confidence.
“He’ll be up and running.
“Everybody’s OK, apart from the longer-term ones and Haris, who has a bad hand injury. He’s had an operation on that. Danny Guthrie’s back, Steve Harper’s back and Shola’s back.
“I pencilled in Ben Arfa to have some time in the Notts Forest game, and it’ll be a massive bonus if we can get him back.”
* Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God.