By Craig Hope

CHRIS Hughton admits that he "got into" his Newcastle United side in the away dressing room as they trailed by two goals at the halfway stage of Saturday's game at Bristol City.

The Magpies found themselves behind following first-half strikes from Lewin Nyatanga (10) and Nicky Maynard (46) before the half-time dressing down.

And whatever teamtalk tactic Hughton chose to employ certainly had the desired effect as he watched United claw their way back to level pegging thanks to goals from Jonas Gutierrez (70) and Andy Carroll (75).

"We got into a few of them at half-time, that's all you can do," revealed the gaffer when pressed by nufcTV on the nature of his half-time response.

"But we also stressed that one goal and we're straight back in it.

"This was a side that was 2-0 up at home: what do they do? Do they sit back and protect that or do they go and get a third one?

"We knew that if we got the one goal they would become a little bit nervous and try to sit back and protect the lead, and that is what happened.

"So during half-time it was just a case of, yes, getting into them, but also giving them a belief that we could go and win the game.

"That's what we tried to do and I was pleased with the response because, in the end, we came so close to getting all three points."