Interim United Manager Chris Hughton:

“It was a good win, but we made hard work of it. We started well, and got the goal, but the longer it went without us getting the second goal, it gave them the confidence to get back into it. It was a blow when they got the equaliser. Fortunately, we were able to finish strongly, and the second goal sealed it for us.

"I think it's fair to say Danny (Guthrie) and Nile (Ranger) changed the game. Thankfully, they did make a major impact. We needed that Kevin Nolan goal and it encouraged the lads. There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it. I'm disappointed because we started really well. 

"He has done ever so well, big Andy Carroll. He was out for a period of time and had only had two days’ training with the team before the Blackpool game. He got stronger and better as the game went on and as well as scoring a goal, he could have perhaps added another one to it.

"There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it. For whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it and of course the longer the game goes without getting that second one, they are lifted by the occasion and feel they can get something.

"You never want any players happy with being left out of the starting line up. What we’re always going to have, with the amount of games we have, is players able to make an impact from the starting line up, or the bench.

"One thing we’ll always have is, whichever player is left out of the side, is that same player being in the side, at some stage. When you have a squad, you’ve got to be able to work that squad, and we were grateful that the two lads that didn’t start were able to make good contributions in that final period.

"We’re all delighted for Andy Carroll. It’s a wonderful time when you have your first child, and I think it even gives you a little bit of a lift out there. The adrenalin’s still flowing, and what he is, is a young and very confident lad.

"I think he deserves special praise for the work he’s done in his rehabilitation. In effect, he started the game at Blackpool with a couple of days’ training. He showed enough in those two days to warrant a start, and I thought he got stronger in the game as it went on.

"Nile is a young lad, and we’ve got to work him as well as we can. He’s come up against some Championship -hardened centre-halves, and he hasn’t had it all his own way. He’ll be looking for the day when he gets that goal, but he’s a very valuable squad member at the moment, and he certainly gives us options. 

"The options you have on the bench, in some games, will be as important as the lads that are playing."

Following their midweek mishap at Blackpool, Newcastle bounced back as expected to maintain their 100% home record this season, against the Championship's bottom-placed side. 

After an early breakthrough against the Pilgrims however, Chris Hughton's side lost their forward momentum and were duly punished when the visitors levelled just after the break.

Reacting to their first defeat of the season in midweek, Chris Hughton added Peter Lovenkrands and Geremi to his starting XI, pushing Kevin Nolan up in attack alongside Andy Carroll and reintroducing Alan Smith to the midfield at the expense of Nicky Butt. New loan signing Zurab Khizanishvili was named among the substitutes.

Things began well for the Magpies, with Steven Taylor exploiting some non-existent marking, which may be partially explained by a rejigged Argyle defence featuring a pair of inexperienced loan acquisitions. At that point it looked as if a cricket score was on the cards - appropriate with the victorious Durham side and various Australian players watching on, the latter in the area for Sunday's one day international.

Gradually though the visitors regrouped and made some forward forays, aided by an unimaginative home display that frustrated fans. Two Lovenkrands effort aside, there was little to trouble the visitors up front and they almost levelled in bizarre circumstances when Jose Enrique's rick allowed an Argyle player to centre, only for Steven Taylor to miscue a clearance that bounced to safety - via Steve Harper's face.

By then Newcastle had been forced into a change when defender Danny Simpson limped off, Ryan Taylor slotting in at right back. And the substitute almost extended our lead just before the break, seeing his shot blocked at point blank range after a neat dink forward from Joey Barton.

Argyle duly levelled after the restart, with Harper then doing well to tip over a looping 20 yard effort from Sawyer as the visiting Green Army found their voice. That prompted Hughton into a double swap, freshening up his ailing side and bringing some much- needed pace and creativity to pressurise Plymouth.

Nile Ranger arrived to partner Carroll and Lovenkrands made way for Danny Guthrie, as Barton sloped off and Nolan dropped back into a more conventional midfield role. Within moments of moving out of the strike force though, the former Bolton man had his second league goal of the season and normal service was resumed.

And when Duguid dragged a half-chance wide shortly after, Plymouth's chances of rescuing a point began to dwindle, aided by a late burst of energy from Andy Carroll, who in tandem with Ranger began to pull the Argyle rearguard apart and grabbed a fine third to leave Paul Sturrock fearing the worst.

And the striker almost made it three goals in two games with a great piece of individual skill, flicking the ball up and cracking in a memorable volleyed effort that cannoned off the crossbar (strangely, the BBC highlights managed to edit the action to show this as happening when the score was 2-1).

Another decent attendance at SJP applauded the side from the field - although for long periods of the afternoon the atmosphere had been decidedly lukewarm - and the three points raised us up one place into second behind leaders West Brom, who rattled five past the smoggies without reply at the Riverside.

As Hughton commented though, before the substitutions things looked a tad less comfortable at 1-1, with a lack of creativity and pace starting to give the visitors something of an easy ride at the back. Some onfield spats with his colleagues betrayed an annoyance with the input of Lovenkrands, who lacks match fitness. 

And once again the performance of Barton left something to be desired, with a pedestrian-looking midfield hardly helped by the presence of Geremi (or Butt, had he appeared). Quite simply, we weren't getting enough balls or bodies into the box to play the percentage game and pressurise the opposition into errors.

In the event, the appearance of Guthrie and Ranger coincided with an upsurge in tempo and quality - the former unable to make it three goals in as many home games, but supplying another vital assist after his centre from the opposite flank for Carroll's goal at Blackpool. 

Another injury keeps our squad under further scrutiny, with further loan movement expected soon and the likelihood that we'll field an inexperienced XI in the Carling Cup, ahead of the trip to a still winless Ipswich. But the extension of the home record and a resumption in our point collecting form will do for now, as the team, supporters and club start to rehabilitate themselves after last season's trauma. One piece at a time.

Biffa