Tiote Backing De Jong To Shine

By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor

Cheick Tiote is backing Newcastle new boy Luuk de Jong to be a big hit at St. James' Park.

The Ivorian midfielder played with the Dutchman at Twente, with the pair helping the Tukkers to win the Eredivisie title under former England boss Steve McClaren in 2010.

De Jong, who arrived on Tyneside from Borussia Mönchengladbach last week on a loan deal until the end of the season, made his debut as a second half substitute against Sunderland on Saturday.

And Tiote believes that he gives Alan Pardew a great option alongside the likes of Papiss Cisse, Yoan Gouffran, Shola Ameobi and leading scorer Loic Remy.

"I think he's a goalscorer and he can hold the ball up front also," Tiote told nufcTV.

"He's a good player and I hope he'll be there a lot because I think we need some good players to score goals.

"At the moment we're not scoring too many goals so I hope he will start scoring for us." 

Stand-in skipper Tiote admitted that last weekend's derby loss was the worst moment of his career.

But when United were beaten at the Stadium of Light in October, they responded with five wins out of the next six games - starting with a victory over Chelsea, who ironically provide the opposition on Saturday.

The Blues were mightily impressive in beating Manchester City on Monday night but Tiote insisted: "It's going to be hard but I think we've got a chance.

"We have some good players in the squad so if we do the right things, we've got a chance to win.

"But it's going to be tough because Chelsea are a good, good, good, good team. It's going to be tough but if we do the right things we've got a chance to win."

Click here to watch the full nufcTV interview with Cheick Tiote