Familiar face for Toon fans on the visit to Vicarage Road

FOR Newcastle United supporters, and some of the playing staff, there will be a reunion with one of the club’s former players on Saturday afternoon at Vicarage Road.

Moussa Sissoko, who signed for Watford in the last few days of the transfer window, is expected to feature against the Magpies at the weekend.

Since leaving St James’ Park for Tottenham in 2016, he hasn’t exactly been given the warmest of receptions by the Newcastle fans, whether at home or on their travels.

Those supporters were not just bitter about his exit from the club, it was the regular ‘come and get me’ pleas throughout his time in the North East and the inconsistency of his performances.

The £30m that Spurs paid for Sissoko was perceived by many on Tyneside as well over the odds, especially after being part of the side that had been relegated from the Premier League.

However, when he infrequently produced a top-drawer performance, he was absolutely unplayable.

His home debut against Chelsea in 2013 was one of the great afternoons at St James’ Park as Alan Pardew’s side came from 2-1 down to win 3-2, courtesy of Sissoko’s second-half brace.

It was showings like those that made the long stretches of ineffective performances all the more frustrating which certainly wasn’t helped by a clear desire to leave throughout the 2015/16 campaign.

The travelling supporters will certainly be hoping that he doesn’t produce one of the match-winning performances that he showed a couple of times at St James’ Park.