Cisse sorry for unsavoury elbow

London - Newcastle United's Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse issued an apology on Wednesday after being banned for three matches for elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman.

Referee Craig Pawson did not notice the incident during Newcastle's 3-2 home win in the Premier League on Sunday, but Cisse accepted a charge of violent conduct on Tuesday after being charged retrospectively.

Cisse will not play for Newcastle before he travels to Equatorial Guinea for the Africa Cup of Nations and he expressed remorse for his actions in a message on the Newcastle website.

"I'm sorry for doing something like this. I'm not the sort of player who does something like this," he said. "It is not like me. I am not an aggressive player, but in football you cannot do something like this."

Cisse, who has scored five times in his last six matches, will miss Thursday's home match against Burnley, Saturday's FA Cup third-round trip to Leicester City and the away match at Chelsea on January 10.