Newcastle restored their three-point lead at the top of the Championship and maintained their unbeaten home record for the season, but made hard work of the victory over the financially-challenged Eagles.

New arrival Mike Williamson was drafted in to partner Fabricio Coloccini in the centre of defence. Meanwhile Tamas Kadar filled in at right back, with Danny Simpson and the Taylors, Ryan and Steven all unavailable.

With Shola Ameobi absent, Peter Lovenkrands returned along with Andy Carroll up front ,while our other new arrival, Wayne Routledge was named as a substitute.

The visitors meanwhile were deprived of their coveted forward Victor Moses, who was pulled out of the game by the club's newly-appointed administrators. And Neil Warnock's side went into the game with just three substitutes named - and no goalkeeper among that trio.

Despite that though, the opening exchanges were equal, with decent chances at both ends - Lovenkrands coming agonisingly close on 10 minutes when he latched on to a centre from Jonas Gutierrez.

By then Palace had already been forced to rearrange their defence, when Johannes Ertl limped off having pulled a hamstring within two minutes of the first whistle.

The breakthrough came on 20 minutes when Palace midfielder Shaun Derry shanked the ball past his own 'keeper. But if home fans thought that slice of good fortune would provide the platform for a routine victory then they were to be disappointed, as United were unable to pull away from their beleaguered guests.   

In fairness, the loss of Jose Enrique with a hamstring pull just five minutes after the opening goal hampered the home side's attacking thrust. Despite having rookie defender Ben Tozer on the bench, Chris Hughton opted to introduce Fabrice Pancrate as an emergency right back with Kadar switching flanks.

With the Hungarian youngster understandably finding his feet, the lack of an overlapping full back had a detrimental effect on Gutierrez, who was also less active following a heavy challenge that left him needing treatment.

Pancrate meanwhile was in particularly random form, with some reasonable defensive work mixed with potentially disastrous lapses in concentration. And when he got forward, his dragging of an attempted shot across the Palace area caused Lovenkrands to injure himself when vainly attempting to make contact with the rogue ball.

The second half almost got off to a flying start when Pancrate got down the United right before crossing for Lovenkrands, whose first touch opened up the chance of a shot - only for him to blaze harmlessly over the goal. The contest became increasingly fractious as the second half wore on, with one flare up on the touchline seeing the fourth official step between the two bickering benches. 

New signing Wayne Routledge joined the action just after the hour, replacing Lovenkrands and supporting Carroll up front in a 4-4-1-1 formation. However some Palace probing culminated in former Magpie Darren Ambrose almost adding to his fourteen goal tally for the season, his first-time effort from close range deflected away by agile Steve Harper, Kadar clearing the danger.

The arrival of Nile Ranger in place of Gutierrez saw United revert to 4-4-2, with Routledge moving to the right wing. It was to be Pancrate again though who supplied a well-aimed cross from that side on 81 minutes, only for Ranger to head over from six yards out. The youngster did rather better in added time however, calming rising nerves on and off the field with his second senior goal in our colours. 

United now lead third-placed West Brom by eight points, with both sides having played the same number of games. Second-placed Forest meanwhile have played one more. The gap to a non-playoff spot is now a massive 16 points.

Of the debutants, Williamson didn't look too rusty in what was his first senior appearance since August 2009 and used his height to good advantage on a few occasions as Palace got the ball into our box from set pieces. His fellow new arrival Routledge looked lively enough, showing some decent touches and awareness without ever really seeing sight of goal or getting a free run. Unlike Williamson, he's been a regular for QPR and last appeared for their first team less than two weeks ago. 

But while two additional faces were added to the squad, the injury incurred to a third member of our hitherto settled back four in as many games remains a concern - as does the latest Ameobi setback and fresh concerns over Gutierrez. It's reported that United remain hopeful of bringing two more players to the club, although that could well be in the post-transfer window loan market. At this rate, we'll be needing them.

What could be a priceless three points were thankfully collected - but the manner in which they were acquired is perhaps best forgotten. 

Biffa