Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew admits losing Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote to the African Nations Cup will be a blow after victory over Manchester United.

Pardew was thrilled with their display.

He admitted the loss of Ba and Tiote will be huge, but remains confident his squad has what it will take to maintain the fight for the seventh position they currently occupy.

Asked if Ba in particular is irreplaceable, he said: "You could argue that, but we thought that about Andy Carroll last year and we didn't do too badly without him.

"I am not going to hide away from the fact that Cheick and Demba tonight were probably the two outstanding players on the pitch for us.

"They were going away - whether that was part of an extra motivation for them and the champions were here...

"We are going to miss them - I can't hide from that. But what a way to go out.

"We will look forward to seeing them in six games' time or whenever it is."