NEWCASTLE are sweating on Demba Ba's availability for Sunday's Premier League game with Tottenham after the striker was forced out of international duty last weekend with a knee injury.

Ba was not involved as Senegal completed their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mauritius.

He had already missed two training sessions with his national side, with the Senegal FA reporting that he had a "knee problem".

Ba, who has scored four goals in Newcastle's last two league matches, has a history of problems with his left knee, and previously failed a medical at Stoke City because of a long-standing knee concern.

At this stage, there is no suggestion his latest problem is related to any previous condition, but Newcastle's medical staff will be keen to make their own investigations as soon as the 26-year-old returns to Tyneside.

Ba has formed a successful partnership with Leon Best in recent matches, and Alan Pardew will be loath to break it up when Spurs visit St James' Park in five days time.

Alterations will be necessary at the start of next year, however, as Senegal's qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations means Ba will be absent for up to a month.

The tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea runs from January 21 to February 12, but it is usual for players to meet up with the rest of their squad at least seven days before the competition starts.

That means Ba could miss league games against QPR, Fulham, Blackburn, Aston Villa and Spurs, as well as the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The same is true of Cheik Tiote, as Ivory Coast have qualified for the finals with a 100 per cent record following their weekend win over Burundi.

Tiote was involved from the outset as goals from Kolo Toure and Yaya Toure handed Ivory Coast a 2-1 win in Abidjan.

As well as monitoring Ba's fitness, Pardew will also be interested to see if Yohan Cabaye plays for France this evening, as the midfielder is another of Newcastle's players to have suffered an injury setback while on international duty.

Cabaye damaged his ankle as France beat Albania 3-0 on Friday evening, but had been hopeful of recovering in time to feature in tonight's decisive final qualifier with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He is then due to return to Newcastle tomorrow, where his ankle will be examined by the Magpies' medical team.

Cabaye has started all seven of Newcastle's league games so far, and Pardew will be desperate to make it eight from eight against Spurs.

Meanwhile, Dan Gosling's agent, David Hodgson, has slammed suggestions that his client could be about to leave St James' Park on loan.

Doncaster Rovers were linked with a possible loan move for Gosling last week, but Hodgson insists there is no chance of the midfielder leaving Tyneside of his own volition.

"Dan is a Newcastle United player and if they say they want him to go out on loan then he will go out on loan - but no one has come to Dan or to me with that suggestion," said the former Darlington manager.

"I have advised Dan since he was at Plymouth as a teenager and my advice to him is that he remains at Newcastle.

"He's got a very big challenge on his hands at Newcastle, no question about that. And the biggest challenge is to win the manager over.

"Alan Pardew has signed two or three players in Dan's position so he does have a battle, but if he came to me I would say that the best place to win the manager over is actually at St James' Park."