Nigel Pearson: "If you are not creating or taking your chances, it's important to keep a clean sheet and we have been done on the counter-attack from what was a very promising situation for ourselves.
"It's frustrating, there's no doubt about that, but I know that we will get a positive response from the players.
"Kick-off delay had no impact on the players.
"The players were all very relaxed about that.
"Both sets of players dealt with the situation very well, as did the club and the officials.
"There was no friction at all. Sometimes these things happen and you have got to deal with them."
Alan Pardew added: "I have to pay tribute to Nigel, he was very calm about it all. He was matter of fact, it was a problem and let's just wait and sort it out. He didn't make a big deal and I thank him for that.
"We were so impatient for the game, it just made it a little bit more difficult, but in the end it didn't affect what was a big day for us."