Newcastle new boy Papiss Cisse is confident he can handle the expectation of wearing the club's famous No.9 shirt.

Cisse, who joined Newcastle from Freiburg during last month's transfer window, marked his debut for the club with the winner against Aston Villa last weekend.

The Senegal international is relishing the opportunity of wearing the shirt made famous by the likes of Alan Shearer and Jackie Milburn.

"I know I have a lot to prove here and I know what the shirt means to this football club," said Cisse. "I'm very proud to wear it and I hope I can be successful in it.

"That is why I've come here, it is a special challenge and I'm very excited about what the future holds."

Cisse is enjoying life on Tyneside and he hopes to form a special relationship with the club's passionate fans.

"It's important for me to have a special relationship with the fans and that is one of the reasons I liked the idea of coming to Newcastle.

"Demba had told me how the people here love the game and how passionate they are. They live and breathe football and I wanted to go to a club like that. I feed off that positive energy, I want to thrive here.

"This is a football city with great support for the club. It makes me very happy to know they are like that. This is my sort of club."