Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has warned Papiss Cisse to be prepared for the inevitable dip in form.

Pardew, whose Toon side take on top-of-the-table Manchester City on Sunday, knows that there will be times when things don't go the way of his star forward.

Pards said: "It's early days - this is only half a season.

"His confidence is very, very high - at some point, it will be low, and that's when maybe me and my staff need to kick in.

"At the moment, we are just running along with him. It's early days for Papiss and he has really hit the ground running."