But Habib Beye has been one of the key men in Newcastle United's revival under Kevin Keeganand he believes it is the presence of his Senegal team-mate Abdoulaye Faye which has solved the team's defensive troubles.
Beye: "When Abdoulaye came to Newcastle, I told people that he would be an excellent defender and an excellent leader for the team. In the last few weeks, I think you have been able to see exactly what I meant.
"He is a very good central defender and he has made a number of important tackles and headers in the last few matches. But he is also a leader at the back.
"He helps to make other players play better by leading them and telling them what to do. I think he will be our defensive leader for the rest of the season.
"It's easier for us to defend now that we are playing with the same defence every game. If you know the guy alongside you, it is much easier to play with him than with someone you are not used to.
"When you are defending it is important to get the basics right like marking and staying in a line and it is easier to do that if you are playing with the same people week after week.
"Our defending has been excellent recently. We kept a clean sheet against Reading and then we kept another one down at Portsmouth, which is a very difficult place to go to as a defender.
"It's very important to keep a clean sheet and, if we could do that in every game, it would give us a really good base to build from."