STEVE McCLAREN has recommended that Newcastle United do not allow Cheick Tiote to leave Tyneside before the end of the season – even though the midfielder continues to attract interest from China.

Tiote was set to join Shanghai Shenhua last month, only for an £8m deal to collapse when the Chinese Super League club were unable to agree the personal details of the transfer.

The Ivory Coast international remains on the radar of a number of Chinese clubs, with the Chinese transfer window not due to close until the end of the month.

However, having thrown the 29-year-old into the starting line-up for last weekend’s 1-0 win over West Brom, and watched the midfielder produce an excellent display, McClaren has recommended that the rest of Newcastle’s board do everything they can to retain him for the remainder of the campaign.

“I hope he stays – I’m certainly recommending that,” said the Magpies head coach. “He just showed his value, although I also thought he had been playing well before he left (to negotiate his deal with Shanghai).

“He came back and played well, even though he’d only had a few days training. It’s not just about Cheick – it’s about the character and attitude that the players who came in showed. That’s what we need, and we need it week in and week out.”

Jack Colback and Emmanuel Riviere return to the squad for tomorrow’s game at Chelsea, with the former expected to replace Rolando Aarons and left-back and the latter likely to find himself on the substitutes’ bench.

“We have no fresh problems, and we’ve had Jack Colback training well all week along with Manu Riviere,” said McClaren. “So there are two to be added to the squad.

“On the injury front, after Chelsea we have an 18-day break before the next game and we hope that maybe three or four come back into the squad from injury, which would be a major boost.”