We owed them one - Clark

After suffering a controversial late loss at the City Ground four weeks ago, the Magpies made amends by seeing off the Reds in their final outing of the calendar year.

Matt Ritchie’s early effort was cancelled out by Nicolao Dumitru before the break, but – after Forest skipper Matt Mills was dismissed on the hour-mark – United eased to another three-point haul thanks to a Dwight Gayle brace.

Clark – who saw a headed strike chalked off in the reverse fixture – admitted he and his teammates were in determined mood ahead of the clash, Rafa Benitez’s side taking full advantage of Brighton & Hove Albion’s postponement to reclaim their place at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.

“There was a lot of controversy in the game away at Forest, and we felt that we owed them one,” he told nufc.co.uk. “With the Brighton game being called off as well, we knew there was a chance for us to go back to the top with a win. With all of those things in the back of our minds, there was an extra boost for us to go out there and do well.

“It’s obviously a good result in the end, and I thought it was a good performance. We were disappointed to go in 1-1 at half time, because we felt that we controlled the game.

“They tried to slow the game down and frustrate us, but it didn’t get the better of us, and everyone managed to keep a cool head. In the end, they ended up losing it themselves – the sending-off helped us and we obviously made them pay. We managed to get the two goals and we’re happy in the end.”

After suffering a narrow defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day, United ended a whirlwind 2016 in perfect fashion, making sure they head to Blackburn Rovers on Monday a point clear at the summit.

Though they currently sit a lowly 22^nd in the standings, the Magpies will know better than to underestimate Owen Coyle’s side, who recorded a surprise victory at St. James’ Park in November.

And though Rovers are winless in their five outings since, 27-year-old Clark – now firmly established as a regular in Benitez’s starting line-up – insists that Newcastle will be taking nothing for granted at Ewood Park.

“They came up here and beat us recently, so it’s another game we’ll need to concentrate on and make sure we’re at our best,” he said.

“After losing on Boxing Day, we didn’t want to get on a run where we weren’t winning, and we wanted to put it right quickly. We had the perfect opportunity to do that tonight against a good side, and we did that.

“The gaps can close quickly. Brighton have won a few, we’ve made a few mistakes and that has cost us. We need to keep working hard, and keep getting the right results.”