Papiss Cisse has scored just 2 goals for Newcastle this season Fulham boss Martin Jol has revealed that he wanted to sign Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, before his move from Germany to Tyneside. Cisse scored 13 goals in 14 games for Newcastle in the second half of last season, after leaving Bundesliga side Freiburg. At the time, there were reports of interest from Sunderland and Fulham, and now Jol has declared he was watching Cisse. \"He was always on my list. I can\'t lie. He made the choice for Newcastle and that was it. There were three or four last year that were too expensive or they stayed and he was one of them. He was top scorer in Germany and played for not the biggest club. It\'s always a little gamble.\"
This season Cisse has only scored twice for Newcastle, meaning Jol is happier to have Bulgarian goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov at Craven Cottage: \"With Berbatov it will be the same - [Arsene] Wenger said he didn\'t know he was on the transfer list. So there will be other clubs thinking: \'Oh, we could have had him\'.\"
Ahead of tonight\'s match in West London, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is hoping his side can build on their impressive 3-0 victory over Wigan at St James\' Park last Monday. The Magpies lost four on the bounce before getting the better of Roberto Martinez\'s men. Pardew thinks his mid-table side have a defining month ahead, \"It will be a real test in the next two months. We have got to really nail ourselves down and get as many points as we can and see where we are. We are not actually too far away from that fifth, sixth place - probably the same as we are from the relegation zone,\" he said.
Fulham will welcome back captain Brede Hangeland following the completion of the Norwegian international\'s three-match suspension. Alex Kacaniklic is also back in the fold after recovering from injury. Bryan Ruiz and Sascha Riether are doubts.
For Newcastle, David Santon, Cheick Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gabriel Obertan, Demba Ba and Jonas Gutierrez are all back in contention. Steven Taylor and Yohan Cabaye are long-term absentees.