NEWCASTLE UNITED head coach John Carver is confident Ayoze Perez and Emmanuel Riviere can fill the void left by Papiss Cisse, who starts a seven-match ban for spitting this weekend.

Cisse was handed the lengthy ban after the incident with Manchester United defender Jonny Evans in the defeat at St James’ Park ten days ago.

The suspension means the Magpies will be without their top scorer for all but three of their remaining games this season and Carver will call on Perez and Riviere to guide his side to their target of a top ten finish.

Perez has impressed massively in his first Premier League season having joined from Spanish Second Division side Tenerife in the summer.

The Spain Under-21 international has scored five times, but more recently Carver made the decision to take him out of the firing line and the head coach believes it has been a good thing for the young forward.

“Whether he is ready for it at the moment, only time will tell but we'll find out on Sunday,” the Magpies head coach said.

“It has helped him having a bit of a break. There was an awful lot of pressure on this young lad coming from Tenerife and being thrown into our cauldron.

“I thought he dealt with it well and it's part of my job to deal with him and one of the other young players - Adam Armstrong - to make sure they don't disappear into the wilderness.

“When we signed him, we thought he would have a full season in the under-21 team developing. He was thrown in at the deep end and he dealt with it.

“I could see him starting to look a little bit jaded, which is one of the reasons he was taken out of the firing line. We've seen it, even with senior, experienced players coming from another country, how difficult it is for them to adapt physically.

“I'm seeing that with one or two Arsenal players, for example - world class players who are now finding the physical demands a bit tough.”

Riviere also arrived on Tyneside last summer but his transfer was more high profile than Perez’s because of the £6m fee Newcastle paid Monaco for his services.

The 25-year-old has struggled to make an impact in his first season in English football and is yet to find the net in the Premier League, but Carver believes it is only a matter of time before the Frenchman starts firing.

He said: “Players in the past have taken a bit longer - Cabaye took a bit longer, Gouffran...A lot of players took some time to adapt.

“Ask any Premier League manager and they'll say the same thing. It's a different demand. It's demands more than anything else.

“I will defend him, he's one of my players. The one thing about Manu Riviere is he works his socks off. He keeps getting on the end of things, he keeps getting in the right areas and I'm telling you, before time it will come off.

“Let's judge him at the end of the season or in six months' time. This is the first time he's had a real run in the team, let's not forget.

“He's not played for the 90 minutes but he's had a right good go at it. He's got to convert the chances, I understand that, but let's judge him in the future. I do think it takes guys time.

“It's difficult because of how young Ayo is. We paid a decent transfer fee for Riviere and he had that on his head.

“Sometimes it can knock your confidence but I don't think it has with him, he's still worked extremely hard.”

Carver is without Massadio Haidara and Mehdi Abeid for the trip to Goodison Park, but Jack Colback returns from suspension and Rob Elliot is back from injury.

The head coach also revealed that Siem de Jong is close to running again after the Dutchman suffered a collapsed lung, but he wouldn’t be drawn into speculation over whether the forward will return before the end of the campaign.

Cisse’s suspension has allowed the striker to undergo an operation to remove a screw from his knee and Carver stressed the procedure was routine.

“Papiss Cisse has got a problem with his knee, but it's not a big problem.

“It was something that we were going to have to do anyway, maintenance that was going to be needed.”