Alan Pardew: “Monday to Friday, we beat ourselves up at Newcastle, it’s tradition. But Saturday is about the game, and you can’t argue with the two games.
“You look at the fixture list we had – Arsenal at home, Sunderland away – some may have said, ‘If they get a point out of that, they will have done well’, a neutral or an expert back in the office.
“But to get four points out of those two games is a real tick in the box. The thing we answered today, which I said to the players afterwards, the spirit is still there.
“We were applauded for our spirit last year and quite rightly so.
“We have got new players, but we haven’t lost that spirit, and that was evident today because there were times during the game that we had difficulties and your spirit needs to pull you through them.
“It brings everybody together. My staff are looking forward to going into town on Saturday and sharing that with the fans, and that’s what it’s about.
“I will join them for a couple and I will enjoy it too.
“Football is about that winning mentality and sometimes, you can have that winning mentality and not win, but you can be pushing and pushing, and that’s what we have got to do all season.
“That’s the type of club we are. Even when we lose, we have got to really be pushing to try to retrieve the situation at the end, and that spirit was evident today.
“We have got that in the dressing room and that bodes well. When we are 2-1 down away from home or losing at home, we have got to get something out of it.
“It’s a very important trait for a football team.”