Ba and Cisse in line for Blackburn return

Newcastle have been handed a huge boost with the news that Senegal have failed to qualify from the group stages of the African Cup of Nations.

Their 2-1 defeat to co-hosts Equatorial Guinea last night means that Senegal are now unable to progress any further than the group stages and will play their final match of the tournament on Monday.

That means that our leading scorer and his new sidekick - Demba Ba and Papisse Demba Cisse - will be back with us in the early part of next week and could be in line to feature in our league match against Blackburn next Wednesday, although it's more than likely going to be the televised match against Aston Villa in which we'll see them both play.

With Senegal touted as being one of the strongest squads in the competition they were tipped by many to go far. Unfortunately that wasn't to be and two defeats in their opening two games have sealed their fate.

Personally I'm unsure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, our two main strikers returning is a great thing - it has to be be. However after such a disappointing tournament will they feel a little bit down? Almost like an African Cup of Nations hangover? Of course on the other side of the coin a disappointing tournament could fire them up even more. I guess we'll have to wait and see what their reaction will be.

From a Newcastle perspective it gives us our main attacking threat back which I'm sure we're all secretly chuffed about. I say secretly because I noticed some idiots on Twitter last night messaging Demba Ba directly revelling in the failure of his country at the ACoN. It's probably not what he wants to see but hey ho!

However, now we can unleash them on Blackburn!