Pardew Hopeful He Has Found The Key to Stopping Liverpool Strikers

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has backed Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa to nullify the threat of Liverpool's in-form strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.

Brendan Rodgers' side travel to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon having inflicted a resounding 6-0 defeat on the Magpies on their own turf last season in a game where the visitors barely missed the presence of the Uruguay international, who had just begun his 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.

Liverpool return this time with both Suarez and Sturridge in splendid form having scored five goals between them in the club's last three games, a run that has prolonged the club's bright start to the season and earned the duo the tag of the most fearsome partnership in the Premier League.

Newcastle are without first choice options of Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini for tomorrow's game, but Pardew believes Yanga-Mbiwa, who joined the club from Montpellier in January, is up to the task of shackling Liverpool's potent SAS strike force.

"Steven (Taylor) will not be available. We think he will train on Monday, he is pretty close," Pardew told a press conference.

"Mapou will play, he came out of this team but he has put in some strong performances so far for this club.

"Certainly it takes time to adjust to the Premier League. I remember Coloccini's first year here. Sometimes it takes adjusting. What we have done is give him some solutions to get the best out of him.

"You are looking for a bit of character in a player. We have seen that in him. He is a player with tremendous pace. He has to utilise that. If he can do that, he is going to be a massive asset for us."

The former Montpellier skipper joined the club for a reported fee of £7m at the beginning of the year, one of five signings Newcastle made from Ligue 1.

He had been ever-present in the Newcastle backline until he was taken off at half time in the club's 3-2 defeat to Everton after enduring a nightmare first 45 minutes in which the Toffees stormed to a 3-0 lead.

After being dropped for the club's win over Cardiff City, the France international is poised to enter the fray again and Pardew remains confident the club's decision to sign the 24-year-old will be firmly justified.

"We paid a lot of money for Mapou," Pardew continued. "We are hoping he can get Premier League football in a short period of time.

"He is growing as a player and he will get better."