Guthrie Inspired By Manager's Stat

By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Man of the match Danny Guthrie revealed how a pre-game pep talk from manager Alan Pardew helped them to beat Queens Park Rangers despite the presence of their new boss Mark Hughes.

The former Wales, Blackburn and Fulham chief took charge of the R's for the first time following the departure of Neil Warnock, and the visitors came flying out of the traps at the Sports Direct Arena.

But Newcastle stood firm and went on to gain a foothold in the match - with Guthrie at the hub of most of the Magpies' best work - before Leon Best struck the only goal of the game.

Guthrie was playing for the first time since the defeat to Chelsea on 3rd December last year, and admitted that he felt slightly rusty in the opening exhanges.

"It took ten or 15 minutes - but I think everyone took ten or 15 minutes," he told nufc.co.uk.

"They came out really fast and aggressive. With the new manager we expected that, and it took us a good ten or 15 minutes to get settled into the game.

"The gaffer gave us a great stat before the game about how many new managers win their first game, and we had to deal with that.

"But we weathered their early storm and we were pretty comfortable towards the end.

"For a 1-0 game, we controlled the pace of the game and never really had any scares."

Clutching a bottle of champagne after being chosen as the Barclays star man, Guthrie expressed his delight at completing the full 90 minutes after such a long lay-off.

But even more important to him were the three points, which saw Newcastle climb above Liverpool into sixth and go level with Arsenal ahead of their trip to Swansea.

"It's been nearly two months since I last played and I've only trained three days this week, so I was really pleased to get the 90 under my belt," he said.

"And to get the win was brilliant, because that takes us level on points with Arsenal as we stand."