Papiss: 'It's Great To Be Back'

By Tom Easterby

Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse is delighted to be back in action - and back among the goals.

The 29-year-old grabbed a brace to rescue a point for the Magpies against Hull City almost a fortnight ago and now - with his injury nightmare behind him - is ready to fire the goals that will propel his side up the Barclays Premier League table.

"I'm happy to be back because I was injured for such a long time," said the former Freiburg forward, who missed the end of last season and the start of this campaign with a fractured kneecap sustained during the loss to Swansea in April.

"I didn't have a pre-season, because when the team were starting their pre-season I was injured and was doing my rehabilitation at Clairefontaine in France.

"I worked hard in the gym to make my leg strong and the moment I came back here, I ran and did my pre-season."

Cisse was deployed from the bench with Newcastle trailing by two goals to Steve Bruce's Tigers last month and responded with a point-saving brace late on.

Now, with Swansea City next up on Saturday, the number nine says he's fighting fit and raring to help kick-start both his and United's campaign at the Liberty Stadium.

"It's not a bad way to come back (with the two goals against Hull) but, for me, it's not a surprise because in my head all the time is 'I need to work hard and come back quickly', but be a little bit careful too," the front man told nufc.co.uk.

"But now I'm good - I feel good in my body and my leg as well.

"It was good for the team, but the urgency for the team is to win the game and have three points, but if you're in the second half and you're losing 2-0 in the game, if you come back into the game at 2-2 and nearly score three, you need to be happy and say maybe next time you'll win the game.

"I need to score, and I need to score a lot of goals for this team because the team needs it to get some points to go up the table."