STEVE McCLAREN is weighing up the option of handing Ayoze Perez another chance to prove he can lead the Newcastle United attack on his own.

The skilful Spaniard has tended to play in a more withdrawn role under McClaren, either out wide or as a No 10.

With Aleksandar Mitrovic expected to be sidelined for the trip to Stoke City next Wednesday with a medial knee ligament problem, Perez has emerged as the leading contender to play as the lone striker.

Senegalese international Papiss Cisse is closing in on a return after recovering from the knee problem which has prevented him from appearing since the mid-December draw with Aston Villa.

But to ask him to start at Stoke would be a huge gamble by McClaren, who is also reluctant to throw in January transfer window signing Seydou Doumbia.

The Ivorian, on loan from Roma until the end of the season, arrived at St James’ Park with a decent scoring record in Europe, particularly in Russia with CSKA Moscow.

Doumbia, however, is yet to impress enough to warrant a starting place at the Britannia Stadium so the likelihood of Perez being asked to lead from the front is growing.

The Spaniard has only played two minutes of Newcastle’s last two Premier League fixtures and on the rare occasion he was asked to play that role at Everton it ended in disaster from a team point of view.

The 22-year-old, the subject of interest from Tottenham last month when Newcastle eventually persuaded them to part with Andros Townsend without the player in exchange, has scored five times this season but was poor at Goodison Park when the Toffees won 3-0 on February 3.

And while he was not the only one to under-perform that evening on Merseyside, McClaren is having to seriously consider throwing him into that role again.

Playing as a central striker is Perez’s preferred option, having scored goals for fun in Spain there and he impressed under Alan Pardew when he first arrived on Tyneside in June 2014.

But McClaren – fearing Mitrovic could be out for a number of matches – is more reluctant although he should have the back up of having Cisse to call on, as well as Doumbia, if he can prove his fitness.

Cisse has been the subject of interest from Chinese clubs ahead of today’s transfer window closing in the Far East, but Newcastle have had a rethink about selling the £5m man because of Mitrovic’s injury.

There had also been Chinese interest in team-mate Cheik Tiote but the midfielder has indicated a desire to stay in the North-East after failing to agree terms.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have been credited with an interest in Sheffield Wednesday’s teenage striker George Hirst. The 17-year-old is the son of former Owls striker David and has attracted attention from Chelsea and West Ham, among others.