Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has spoken of his delight at his side’s 2-0 win over Bolton on Boxing Day, and feels that the performance was better than in recent games.
Two quick-fire away goals from Hatem ben Arfa and Demba Ba ensured that the visitors picked up a valuable three points, and ended a run of inconsistency.
Pardew revealed that he had a frank discussion with his players earlier in the week, and this helped to motivate his men to victory on Monday.
“We had an important meeting this week and had a chat about what we’re good at and what we’re not good at,” he told Sky Sports.
“You’ve got to understand your weaknesses as a team. We exposed our weaknesses against West Brom the other night. Tonight we’ve shown our strengths.
“It was about getting back to a few things we’re good at this week as a team.
“And that’s what we’ve always been about. We’re a strong unit in that dressing room and we showed that today. We were really under a little bit of a pressure to get that win.
“And we didn’t chase it – we were a lot more controlled. It was a brilliant day for us,” he stated.
The Magpies have had defensive problems due to injury, but Pardew feels his side looked much more solid with the return of Mike Williamson.
“We’ve come here today with round pegs in round holes – and that’s important.
“We haven’t really had our two centre-halves fit for a while and it showed today. Williamson came back and we looked a lot stronger. We looked a lot more like our old selves.
“It was just a question for me if we could open the door. And it took a sub in a cameo role to come and do that,” he concluded.
The win moves Newcastle onto the 30-point mark, and they now take on Liverpool on Friday.
By Gareth McKnight
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