Chris Hughton happy to avoid defeat

Feb 15 2010 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

CHRIS Hughton was relieved to see Newcastle United avoid back-to-back defeats for what would have been only the second time this season, and emerge with something to show from a difficult week.

After relinquishing top spot in the Championship with their biggest defeat of the season at Derby in midweek, the Magpies were heading for another at Swansea until Andy Carroll’s 87th-minute equaliser took them back to the summit.

“It’s not been one of our best weeks,” reflected Hughton.

“When I look back at the performance at Derby, it wasn’t one of our best of the season, but I honestly don’t think it was one of our worst. For a while it looked like we were going to lose (at Swansea), but we got that all-important goal.

“The most important thing is we’ve bounced back. We were on the back of a defeat against Derby and we haven’t lost two in a row. We now have to pick it back up again and make sure we get a win (against Coventry City on Wednesday).”