John Carver has suggested that Papiss Cisse could be the saviour that Newcastle United need as the relegation battle hots up.

Having lost eight of their last nine outings, United sit one place and two points above the drop zone ahead of Saturday's trip to already-relegated Queens Park Rangers.

Last weekend's 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion saw Cisse - who has 11 goals in 20 Premier League appearances - return from a seven-match ban for spitting at Manchester United's Jonny Evans.

"[Cisse] could be huge. What we have to bear in mind is he was supposed to be out for 12-14 weeks but because of personality [he] got back quicker than we though," Carver told reporters.

"[He] didn't have any football before last weekend. He did okay when he came on. The Premier League for 90 minutes is quite vigorous, I'm thinking about what I'm going to do."

Carver has won two games from 17 since replacing Alan Pardew at the beginning of the year.