Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko has expressed his belief that Alan Pardew's team talk to his side at half time in their clash against Tottenham Hotspur was crucial in their victory at White Hart Lane.
The Magpies trailed going into the break to Emmanuel Adebayor's 18th-minute strike, but seconds after the restart they equalised through Sammy Ameobi and Ayoze Perez netted later in the half to fire Pardew's men to the win.
"The manager told us we had to try and play more, because the first half was not good enough," Sissoko told the club's official website.
"He wasn't angry - he didn't shout - but he wasn't happy either. He knew we could play better and so did we. We had to win more tackles, more headers and be braver when we had the ball.
"We did that. We scored straight away, which was good for our confidence, and then we went for another goal, which Ayoze scored."
Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone with the victory over Spurs and are now 14th in the Premier League.
Simon Sinclair
