Newcastle's Cheick Tiote will not risk his fitness in Monday's game against Bolton after suffering a hamstring injury at Swansea on Friday.
Papiss is the best, says midfielder
Newcastle's Cheick Tiote will not risk his fitness in Monday's home game against Bolton after suffering a hamstring injury at Swansea on Friday.
The 25-year-old limped off at half-time at the Liberty Stadium with the latest in a series of niggling injuries in a stop-start season.
And the Ivory Coast international has no intention of making things worse by rushing back too soon.
He told the
Newcastle Chronicle: "I don't want to take any risks and be out for four or five weeks.
"I preferred to stop after the first half. We'll have to see if I'll be ready for Monday or not.
"If I'm not ready for Monday, I think I'll be ready for Stoke. It's a long break, which is good for me.
"It's not easy when you miss one or two games because of injury. But I take the positive side. I'm a footballer, and I've been fit all my career.
"It's a bad moment for me, but it's OK, because it's not a bad injury.
"Some players are out for six months or a year."
Brilliant result
Despite the personal disappointment of picking up an injury, Tiote was still delighted his team-mates were able to beat the Swans thanks to two Papiss Cisse strikes.
"It was a brilliant result against a good team," he added.
"They played well, but we used our experience to win this game.
"We defended well, and it was a good result.
"For the team, Papiss is the best, as he's scoring every game. He's important for us - he's doing a great job. Everyone's happy for him."
