Ameobi laughs off Pardew praise

Shola Ameobi thought Newcastle boss Alan Pardew had gone mad after hearing he had described him as a "legend".

Pardew waxed lyrical about the 30-year-old striker after his injury-time goal had denied Sunderland a famous derby victory on Tyneside last weekend and taken his own tally in that particular fixture to seven. Only Jackie Milburn with 11 derby goals heads Ameobi in the all-time list, but the modest Nigeria-born Geordie was somewhat abashed by the compliment.

He said: "To be honest, the first thought that came to my mind when I heard that was, 'Are you mad?', but I guess that was his way of appreciating getting the goal against our rivals. For me, it's fantastic. To have that sort of praise from the head of the club means a lot, and hopefully I can carry on helping us win games."

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