Chris Hughton: Wobble has done us good

Nov 11 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Much has been made of United’s excellent team spirit this season and Hughton believes the strong bond between the players has helped them return to form.

Equally important, though, has been the return from injury of key defenders with Fabricio Coloccini recovering in time to face Sheffield United and Steven Taylor back for the 3-1 win over Peterborough last weekend.

That has helped shore up a leaky defence, although there is also little doubt there has been a collective determination inside the camp to turn things back around.

“The most pleasing thing has been the way we have responded to the little wobble we had.” added Hughton, who has no immediate plans to add to his squad as he waits for the January transfer window to open.

“We drew two games and lost two in October and suddenly questions were being asked about the squad, but we have come back from that and put a good run of three wins together.”

Although the Magpies are top the table they have only played well in fits and starts and Hughton argued they will suffer again as soon as they forget the basic principles of hardwork and determination.

He said: “Even when we were winning games they were tight affairs. If you look at the Leicester game and the Sheffield Wednesday one at home, their managers probably thought they deserved to get something out of them.

“Then came the little dip. Nobody inside the club has got carried away, but I think there was an expectation from people looking in that we were going to find it easy to get promoted because of the start we had.

“The little dip was a timely reminder that nothing is going to be easy and we are going to have to fight for every single point. Thankfully we have managed to do that.

“We are doing the things we were doing well at the start of the season and the three back-to-back wins have pushed us back to the top of the table. The players had to respond to the poor results and they have done so.”