Hughton relieved after comeback

Posted Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by PA

Newcastle caretaker boss Chris Hughton was a relieved man after seeing his threadbare squad ease their way past Huddersfield and into the third round of the Carling Cup with a 4-3 win.

The Magpies trailed 3-1 at one point after Hughton chose to rest six members of his strongest side, and substitutes Shola Ameobi and Jonas Gutierrez both limped off with what he hopes are minor injuries as they staged a fightback to eventually see of Lee Clark's League One outfit.

With less than a week of the summer transfer window to go, the club remains up for sale and has nine fewer players than it had at the end of last season, and the manager knows that is a parlous situation.

He said: "It does emphasise the fact that the squad we have here is a good squad, but if we are to have any injuries, it becomes a squad that's very stretched."

Hughton, who insisted there was nothing to be read into Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini being left out of the 18, was put through the mill as the Magpies threatened to implode on the night before hitting back.

It all started so well as the home side dominated the early stages despite including three debutants - Tamas Kadar, Kazenga LuaLua and Nile Ranger - in their starting line-up.

They took the lead 10 minutes before the break, courtesy of Danny Guthrie's excellent finish, but inside 11 chaotic minutes either side of the break, they found themselves 3-1 down.

Theo Robinson's 36th-minute equaliser was followed by his successfully-converted penalty three minutes later, and when Jordan Rhodes scored from a tight angle two minutes after the restart, an upset looked to be on the cards.

However, Geremi pulled one back almost immediately and when half-time substitute Ameobi netted from the spot with 64 minutes gone, the Coca-Cola Championship promotion hopefuls were back in the box seat.

They eventually snatched the win with seven minutes remaining when Kevin Nolan slotted home from Ameobi's excellent header down to remove the need for extra time.

Hughton said: "I suppose it could go down as a typical cup tie, but I was pleased we came out winners in the end - and I thought over the 90 minutes, we were worthy winners."

Former Newcastle midfielder Clark was disappointed by the result, but proud of his players' efforts.

He said: "It's disappointing to lose a football match, but I have just said to the players, they have done us proud tonight.

"We took Newcastle to the wire, we were a threat all evening and contributed to what was a very, very good cup tie played with high intensity at high pace, and quality play from both sides at times."