Alan Pardew: "He’s a player who needs to build his own self-confidence.
"He has been terrific for us this season and I had a feeling that he could come in and still be a great player, Gabby.
"He’s only a young player – you look at his age and he’s had tremendous experience.
"He needs to deliver and if he can keep his confidence high. I was so pleased he got the goal. It capped a great display.
"He’s a player where the environment needs to be centred a little bit on him, I think he needs that.
"Also he had a lot of niggly injuries that meant his momentum kept getting stalled but when we finished fifth, he played a big part in that season and I never forgot that.
"Being a young player, sometimes you have to wait, it doesn’t always fall into place. He has been terrific and he certainly warrants a start in this team."