Beardsley applauds in-form Roberts

Roberts chipped in with both assists as United established a two-goal lead at the break, swinging in a corner for Curtis Good to nod home before sending Luke Charman racing clear for the Magpies’ second.

The 19-year-old then converted the penalty he won for himself to give Newcastle a seemingly unassailable lead at Clayton Wood, only for the Potters to set up a grandstand finale through Daniel Jarvis and substitute Jake Dunwoody.

However, United held out to record a third successive win in all competitions and move up to second in the Premier League 2 Division Two.

Roberts also turned in an impressive display in Monday’s 4-2 victory over Aston Villa at St. James’ Park, and Beardsley acknowledged that the wide-man is enjoying a fine vein of form.

“Callum has had a good week. He made three against Aston Villa the other day, and five assists and a goal in two games is a very good return from him,” he told nufc.co.uk.

“We’ve no doubt he has the talent. When you look at players like that, it tends to happen in bursts, where they have a really good spell and then they’re not so good. But at the moment, he’s having a good spell."

Only Swansea City sit above Newcastle in the Premier League 2’s second-tier, United having racked up 12 points from a possible 15 since a late defeat at Fulham in October.

Beardsley is encouraged by the young Magpies’ recent form, though admitted they made life hard for themselves against a Stoke side coached by former United midfielder Glyn Hodges.

“Possession-wise, Stoke had as much of it as we did, if not more. To be fair, they kept going to the very end, and if you were Glyn, that’d certainly please you,” he said.

“At 3-0, it should have been over, but even then, I never thought it was a 3-0 game. 3-2 is a fair reflection.

“Stoke changed their approach. They went more direct, and they caused us a few problems. They just cleverly changed their game-plan and we wouldn’t cope with it. They brought the big lad on (Jordan Greenidge) – who scored a hat-trick for their Under-18s against our Under-18s earlier this season. He was physically strong, able, and he caused us a few problems.

“In the past, 3-2 up with 15 minutes to go, we probably would have crumbled, but we kept going and hung on in the end. Even when we are losing, we’re always very much in it, and that’s a big difference and a big plus.”

Pic: Phil Greig, Stoke City FC