"Those goals were important for him tonight. He's had one bad game this year but he's been right on it and it's good he got those goals," Pardew said after the 2-0 win against Southend.
"Hopefully he can secure that position but Sergei (Rebrov) and Bobby (Zamora) will be fit soon so he's got competition.
"He's a real handful and I'm constantly getting phone calls about him and knocking them back. I think he's going to have a very good season for us."