PAPISS CISSE made a goalscoring return to action last night when manager Alan Pardew told his £9m striker that he should soon have extra competition for a first team place at Newcastle United.

Despite withdrawing from talks with Lyon over a deal for French striker Bafetimbi Gomis, Pardew has not ruled out a renewed attempt to land the player.

Sources in France claim Newcastle pulled the plug on a possible deal because the forward would not budge over his personal demands, while there has also been a disagreement over a 10m euros fee.

Pardew did not want to go in to detail about the negotiations last night, but has not completely dismissed a further push for Gomis' signature even though there is strong interest still in Darren Bent and Loic Remy.

The Newcastle boss, after watching his side win 2-0 at St Mirren last night, is hopeful something will happen before the trip to Ibrox in six days time.

“I'm hoping something happens before the Rangers friendly,” said Pardew. “ I think that's a realistic deadline for my team in the background to hopefully get something done.”

He added: “All I would say is that we're keeping our options open regarding strikers because we can only do a deal that's right. If a deal's right we'll do it, if a deal's not right we won't do it.

“You can only be as confident as the feeling that you're getting and the feeling I'm getting at the moment is we're pursuing and at the end of the day we'll get something.”

Pardew was pleased with the contribution of Cisse at St Mirren Park when the Senegal striker curled in a brilliant opener in the 20th minute after a free-flowing move which started in the Newcastle half.

The 28-year-old, a Muslim, made his return after resolving his differences with the club over shirt sponsors Wonga, which prevented him from travelling on the club's pre-season trip to Portugal.

Pardew said: “There's been no problem with Papiss. I'm actually surprised his fitness levels are so good. It was a fabulous goal - on another night he could have had a hat-trick. So could Dan Gosling.

“Papiss linked up well with Sammy and the three midfield players - Dan and Cheick Tiote. He was getting opportunity after opportunity and when you've got two wide players affected the game like Sammy Ameobi and Hatem Ben Arfa did it makes the pitch very big. Although they tried to press us they just couldn't live with us.”

Cisse was pleased to have finally resolved the situation. He told the club's website yesterday: “It has been a very difficult time for me and the club, and also for the fans. I have had some useful discussions with my club, my family and Islamic teachers in the last few weeks.

"After a huge amount of thought and reflection, I have made the decision to follow my team-mates and wear the kit.”

After scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 win following a neat one two with Ameobi, Cisse left the field in the second half to a rousing reception from the 709 Newcastle fans in Paisley.

Newcastle's second and final goal arrived in the 27th minute when Vurnon Anita, steady in midfield alongside Tiote, picked out Mathieu Debuchy in space behind the Buddies' backline.

Debuchy, a full-back with little right to be where he was, had the simple task of slotting a finish to the right of goalkeeper David Cornell.

St Mirren had a couple of late chances to pull one back, but the finishes from Cisse and Debuchy proved enough to seal another pre-season friendly win for Newcastle.

Pardew said: “We are really working on our retention of the ball and our passing was crisp tonight. We made some great movement and scored two fabulous goals - we probably could have had more. But we have to be happy with the clean sheet and two goals. You can only look as good as we looked for those goals if you put the work in.”

ST MIRREN (4-4-2): Cornell; van Zanten (Naismith 88), Goodwin (Brady 82), McAusland, Granger; Teale, McGinn (Dillion 88), McGowan, Reilly; Thompson (Kelly 82), Harkins (McGregor 82). Subs (not used): Dilo, Mair, Yaqub, Cuddihy, Scullion, Stewart.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-2-3-1): Elliot (Alnwick 66); Debuchy (Santon 46), Coloccini (Streete 82), Yanga-Mbiwa (Williamson 82), Dummett; Anita, Tiote (Newton 76); Ben Arfa (Vuckic 66), Gosling (Campbell 66), Sammy Ameobi; Cisse (Gouffran 66). Subs (not used): Richardson.

* Newcastle midfielder Mehdi Abeid is in Athens ahead of completing a season long loan to Panathinaikos later today.