Midfielder Isaac Hayden believes Newcastle United's "battling qualities" came to the fore in their 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win at Barnsley on Tuesday night.Hayden, restored to the starting line-up by manager Rafa Benitez, played an integral role as the Magpies ground out the victory at Oakwell, where leading goalscorer Dwight Gayle's
Hayden, restored to the starting line-up by manager Rafa Benitez, played an integral role as the Magpies ground out the victory at Oakwell, where leading goalscorer Dwight Gayle's second half brace sealed the points.A goalless first half in Yorkshire offered little in the way of free-flowing football, but after Gayle's brace took United to the division's summit for the first time this season, Hayden - lining up for the first time since the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last month - said that it was vital that his side adapted to the challenge posed by Paul Heckingbottom's side.
A goalless first half in Yorkshire offered little in the way of free-flowing football, but after Gayle's brace took United to the division's summit for the first time this season, Hayden - lining up for the first time since the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last month - said that it was vital that his side adapted to the challenge posed by Paul Heckingbottom's side.
"It was a different type of game tonight - it wasn't your nice, one or two touch passing football," the 21-year-old told nufc.co.uk. "But this is the Championship, and there's going to be games like this, and there'll be games like Saturday (against Brentford), when I thought we passed the ball really well.
"It's just about matching their work-rate and having the battling qualities all over the pitch, which we had tonight, and then eventually our quality will shine through, like it did."It wasn't a great spectacle in terms of nice, intricate passing and good football, but there's different styles and different ways to play. Tonight, we just found a different style of play."But I thought we battled well as a team, and everyone worked really hard for each other. I think that it showed when we scored the goals - all the subs were celebrating with us as well, so it shows that there's a great unity in the group and everyone's pulling in the right direction."
The England Under-21 international added: "Sometimes, even in games where it's more of a footballing game, you still have to battle and you still have to earn the right to play. I think that we did tonight - we did earn the right to play."There were some stages in the second half when we did get the ball on the floor and we did start to pass it a little bit more. But in general they went long, so it was just about winning second balls and headers and then playing on from there, which I thought we did quite well over the duration of the game."
Hayden partnered the in-form Jonjo Shelvey in the middle of the park, coming in for Jack Colback.And the former Arsenal man responded to his recall to the starting 11 by turning in a classy, robust display at the heart of the Magpies side.
With another Championship clash at home to Ipswich Town coming up on Saturday, Hayden is hopeful of hanging on to his place - but says that, regardless of who plays, the whole squad are "pulling in the right direction".
"The manager knows what he's doing - he's a very experienced manager and he's been at the top of the game. It was one of those things - obviously I didn't play for a couple of games, he spoke to me about it and that's life, that's football," he said.
"You're not going to be able to play every single game - there's always going to be games when you might not be playing at your best or you might be a bit tired or whatever. But for me, I want to play every game, and that's what any footballer wants to do.
"If the manager sees fit to play somebody else, then I can't really argue with that. It's just about me when I do get the chance to play, then I have to give 100 per cent and make sure I give my best for the team."Everyone's on board, and that's what I think the main thing is at the moment at the football club - everybody is on board, and if anyone's not playing, they're not sulking. Everyone's pulling in the right direction, and training really well and really hard."
