Pardew wants to find more like Ba

DEMBA BA: The Newcastle striker has scored 16 Premier League goals this season (Getty Images)

The Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, admits he will have to try to bring in more "gems" like Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye this summer if his team are to continue to compete with the Premier League's top clubs.

The Magpies are in with a chance of a Champions League spot, only five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham after Sunday's 3-1 win at West Bromwich.

Pardew recruited Ba (pictured), the scorer of 16 goals this season, and Cabaye last summer. "Is the rebuilding complete?" he asked. "It is never complete, we have to try and move forward. We are trying to compete with teams that have twice our budget, twice our wage bill, have huge investment in their teams.

"We've got to try and bridge that gap with sometimes looking a little left-field in the market. Myself and my staff have managed to pull a few gems but you've got to back it up. We've got to make sure we get it right again, otherwise we will never bridge it [the gap]. We are making sure we don't miss a Cabaye or a Demba Ba."

Pardew believes Newcastle have shown different sides in battling to beat Norwich and outplaying West Bromwich. "People say we have won with grit and now flair and you don't amass 50 points by this stage of the season without having all those qualities," Pardew said. "All those little things are important and when you've got players like we have, you are going to score goals."

The only downside of the win at The Hawthorns was a hamstring injury suffered by captain Fabricio Coloccini, who is likely to be out of this weekend's home game against Liverpool. Coloccini said: "I don't know how bad it is yet. I have a scan on Tuesday. Maybe I will miss the Liverpool game. If it's a little strain, it will be 10 days. Maybe I will get a worse injury if I take a risk and could be out for three or four weeks.

"In the last five or six games we haven't played well, but it was a great victory at West Brom. I think we're getting back to our best."