Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey says the team were glad to get the three points at the New York stadium against Rotherham United in their last league match.
The 24 year old described the match as “horrible” with the ball spending most of the time in the air as the Millers employed some long ball tactics against the Magpies. Talking to the club’s official website, Shelvey thinks clubs put extra effort in against teams like Newcastle in an attempt to get a famous scalp:
“It was a horrible match to play in – the ball was in the air for probably 80 per cent of the match – but the main thing was getting the three points. If you’re going to go up in this league you need to go to places like that and get the points.”
“I thought we defended really well; we battled throughout and we showed real heart and desire to get the three points. There will be more ‘glamorous’ games coming up, but it was nice to go there and get the three points because you can see what it means to those teams.”
Shelvey and his Newcastle side will face a very different type of threat when they face Brentford at the weekend. The Bees tend to play far more balls on the floor and the defence will have to be mindful of the threat of Scott Hogan. The forward has scored seven goals in 11 matches so far this season and will be Dean Smith side’s main threat at St James’ Park.
