PAPISS CISSE has convinced Alan Pardew that he deserves the chance to live up to being Newcastle United’s No 9 – and help keep him in a job.

Cisse’s return to fitness and form has helped Pardew in his hour of need after significant calls for the boss to quit after a dreadful start to the campaign.

A failure to defeat Leicester City at St James’ Park this afternoon would mean Newcastle have started the season with eight games without a win for the first time in the Premier League.

Pardew does not want to have that record connected with his reign on Tyneside and he thinks Cisse’s performances have given the squad a lift.

The Senegal striker, who has returned from international duty unscathed, has four goals in his three appearances since recovering from a fractured knee cap.

Cisse appears to be thriving on being Newcastle’s main striker again, having had to compete with the likes of Loic Remy and Demba Ba in previous years.

Pardew said: “That's a possibility. He does look more enthused, and he's a good voice, Papiss, in the dressing room. He's got more leadership in him than he showed when he first arrived.

“When goalscorers get their tails up, they have an unbelievable knack of finding a goal. Sometimes they just find a goal. The first goal at Swansea, I don’t think there is anyone else on our staff who could have scored that goal, and that is what I mean by finding a technique that gets you a goal.

“He does that on the training ground on a more regular basis when he is in form, like now, than he did in that period you are talking about.”

During the last nine months there have been numerous offers for Cisse’s services from abroad, with clubs from Russia and the Middle East known to have tried to lure him away.

The 29-year-old, however, appears to have used his extended time on the sidelines to focus on his Newcastle career once more and Pardew feels the £9m man could well be the spark he had been looking for in his team’s season.

“I thought that first year, he got all sorts of goals for us,” said Pardew, who watched the African score 13 times in his first four months in England after signing him in January 2011.

“It would be nice to see him score an absolute worldy of a goal like he did in those days, but I think he is a natural goalscorer, we see that on the training ground.

“There have been times when it hasn't been so natural for him. With all goalscorers, they go through those periods, but certainly at the moment – although we have not seen him for the last two weeks – he has looked very sharp in training.

“I like to think that we are going to need to increase the chances for him, I do. That's an area we do need to improve on. But the chances that he's had, he's taken and you can't ask for more than that.”

Cisse is likely to start against Leicester after Pardew claimed it would not be a risk despite his recent return to fitness and having to factor in his midweek appearance for Senegal.

If the pressure is going to ease on Pardew, a striker scoring goals could be crucial but the manager is not taking anything for granted despite improved displays recently.

“We’re just very focused on Leicester, trying to get a win there rather than looking at the bigger picture,” said Pardew. “I don’t think the importance of this game is lost on anyone.

“This is Leicester at home – we’ve had Hull and Crystal Palace at home and haven’t won either. We need to win.

“I don't make any excuses for any of the games we have played. We need to increase the margins, and that's the same for the better quality opposition we are going to be coming up against soon. You have got to increase your margins to win.”

Since earning a point at Swansea courtesy of Cisse’s double, Pardew has not looked for reassurances over his future from the club’s owner Mike Ashley. He has, though, chatted with Lee Charnley, the chief executive.

Pardew is satisfied. He said: “It's just little things that can help. I spoke to the chief executive about certain things I think might help the team. The most important thing is the team. It's not about helping me. It's about helping us get a win, so therefore those conversations have taken place, but not directly with Mike.”