"We're very happy with the three points" - Hayden on Bournemouth victory

The Magpies fell behind early on in their Premier League clash through Harry Wilson's accurate finish before the home side replied through DeAndre Yedlin's diving header three minutes before the half time whistle, the American's first goal at St. James' Park.

Ciaran Clark's close range finish, the defender's second goal in as many games, secured back-to-back Premier League wins for Steve Bruce's side for the first time since April and Hayden was also pleased to see another pair of United defenders get their names on the scoresheet.

"We're very happy with the three points," Hayden told nufc.co.uk. "It was important to get back-to-back wins. It was quite an early goal so there was so much more of the game to play with so much time to stay calm and try to find the openings to create more opportunities.

"We had a lot of chances, they had a lot and it was quite an end-to-end game. Especially to go 2-1 up, we back ourselves to be defensively solid in those situations and we did well.

"The lads said in the dressing room that we don't care who scores necessarily as long as we win. We've shared the goals around and the lads up front are creating chances which is the most important thing.

"It was massive to score before the break. Going in at 1-1 instead of one-nil down makes a big difference. I think the spirit that we've got in this team is always going to show through and that's what happened in the second half."

"You can see they are creating chances and nearly scoring. Everything's nearly but, at the end of the day, we got the three points and, as a team, we don't care who scores as we just want the three points."

United continued their threat from set pieces as, following a short corner, Clark managed to force the ball home after the ball was neatly flicked on by fellow centre-back Federico Fernández into the path of the Irishman.

And Hayden praised his coaches and team mates for another successful routine and also praised the team for holding firm during a tense finish on Tyneside.

The 24-year-old said: "We do work on them but, sometimes, I think it was the first season we came back into the Premier League, we had a few goals from set pieces and not so many last year.

"It's one of those things where you work on things and try to figure the weaknesses out which the coaching staff here are very good at. They've spent a lot of time on it and they've worked so fair play to them and also to the lads for getting those opportunities.

"I always back ourselves to defend well and be a solid unit as a team. When Andy (Carroll) came on, he was in our box heading balls away and it just shows the character of the team and what they want to do for the team.

"As a striker, he wants to get on the scoresheet but he's back in our own box defending. That just shows where we are as a team and as a group. Hopefully, we can only get better."

Following the victory, Newcastle sit in 11th place on 15 points where they are currently seven points above the relegation zone as well as two adrift of fifth spot.

With the international break taking place next week, Hayden is not allowing himself to get too carried away but is determined for United to build on their positive run of form in the top flight to attempt moving further up the league ladder.

"It's silly to be looking at the table when there's so many games left to play," the 24-midfielder added. The most important thing for us is carry on getting three points. If that brings us closer to those areas, that's fantastic. At the end of the day, our main focus is trying to get points on the board and as many as possible. 

"You look at the halfway point and you're aiming for the 20-22 points mark. We're well on our way to doing that, which is good.We can take stock of what we've done over the last few weeks. We got a draw against Wolves and a win away at West Ham and a win against Bournemouth.

"We've done well out of these games and it's just about carrying that on over the winter because it's a long, hard winter after the international break. That's where it will be crucial."