How Newcastle United Can Compensate During the African Cup of Nations

The upcoming African Cup of Nations in late January will have a major effect on Newcastle United, but there are ways that Alan Pardew's boys can make up for losing their star players, Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote.

During the three-week tournament starting January 21, Newcastle will lose top scorer Ba (with 15 goals) and star midfield Tiote, both of whom contribute greatly to the team. They leave behind a goal-scoring void and a 'midfield general' role respectively.

Ba's impact this season has, without a doubt, been the key factor in vaulting Newcastle into the top half of the table. He is scoring at a rate that Tyneside hasn't seen since the days of Alan Shearer, and he should be in the running for earning the famous number nine shirt sometime in the near future. Outside of Ba, Leon Best has been known to be a streaky goal-scorer, but there aren't really any options who have proved themselves capable of scoring at Ba's level. As much as fans may love Shola Ameobi, we must remember he has barely scored 50 goals in 11 years at the club. Youngsters Haris Vuckic and Shola's brother Sammy may be given a chance, but realistically, there's no way they'll be able to replace the Premier League's second top scorer. Instead, Pardew will have to look elsewhere.

With the January transfer window open, Pardew may try to convince owner Mike Ashley to spend at least some of the £35 million Newcastle received last season in return for Andy Carroll. It's unlikely that Pardew will find a direct replacement, but for three weeks a £5-10 million player could do a solid job. No matter who is brought in, the current strikers will still have to step up.

As for Cheick Tiote—the man who once completed 104 passes against Everton last season—he may, surprisingly, be easier to replace. Whilst Tiote is a quality player, Newcastle have a solid set of central midfielders on the bench. Cabaye, who has started all season, will have to step up and play a major role, but alongside him someone will have to step forward from the pool of Danny Guthrie, Alan Smith and Dan Gosling. My pick would be Guthrie, an underrated player with nice play-making ability. Gosling is a similar player to Guthrie, but Smith could make a comeback into the starting lineup with his crunching tackles and the defensive force he provides. The most likely thing we'll see is a mixture of these three going forward, rather than bringing in another midfielder.

There's no doubt that the Toon will miss Ba and Tiote, arguably the team's best players, but if the bench can step up and Ashley is willing to spend some of his money, Newcastle can certainly patch up the gaping holes those two players leave. This is an extremely important stretch of the season and there's no time to let just two missing players get the team down.