The Senegal international should have joined the Potters in January but the club pulled the plug as they were unhappy with the results of his medical which threw up issues with a knee problem. Ba, who signed for West Ham and then moved to Newcastle in the summer, always rejected suggestions he was not fit and returned to punish Stoke in the 3-1 win at the Britannia Stadium. He struck twice from close range in the first half and, after Jonathan Walters had pulled one back from the spot, hammered in a late penalty to take his tally to eight in his last five league matches - including a second hat-trick. "I don't think there is any animosity between Demba and this club," said Pardew. "He did a great job at West Ham and I brought him to Newcastle and he has been absolutely terrific. He doesn't miss a day's training. "Don't think this is a one-off from him; his link-up play, his all-round ability and his finishing. "He is always on the move in the box and if you do that you are going to score goals and that is why he got his first two. "It showed sheer confidence to hit a penalty like that." Pardew's side became only the second club to win at the Britannia Stadium this year and registered their first league win away to Stoke since 1985. "Obviously this is a really good Stoke side who have a strong squad and the way they play makes it difficult," he said. "You have to show real character and my players did that. "They showed another side to them and it is important in the Premier League you have many sides to your team. "We set ourselves up to attack the game and on the break at times we looked threatening in the first half. "It was a bit disappointing in the second half as we didn't get as much control of the game as I would have liked but we got goals at good times. "I thought both penalties were soft-ish but at least the referee was consistent." The striker may have got a rough reception from the home crowd but Stoke boss Tony Pulis had no issues with the player. "We really fancied Demba for a while but people have to remember we were paying £9million for him with his wages and everything else," he said. "The medical people at this club are fantastic and they didn't think his knee was a risk we could take at that time. "Taking him on a free is a different option and he has certainly done well at West Ham and at Newcastle. "He has no problems from me." Pulis admitted his team's defensive resilience was not up to its usual standards. "The two goals they scored they are not goals that have cut us apart and you have to hold your hand up and say it is really good play," he added. "They are two poor goals for us. The first one is offside - when the keeper kicks it Leon Best is actually offside and comes back and wins it but we should have done better after that. "The second goal we should have dealt with better as it was two basic balls which went into the box and our defending was very poor. "We gave them a leg up with a 2-0 start and it is always going to be uphill. "It wasn't our night it was Newcastle's and fair play to them."
