"It was good for him, for his confidence, for a striker to score goal it was important," said Ancelotti.

"He played really well, worked hard, pressed forwards, what I asked, he did. It was important for the team.

"This goal can give him more confidence in what he is doing, he is doing well.

"He has to improve; he is young and has to improve technically and tactically but he is in the right way."

The draw made it just one league defeat in six league matches for Ancelotti and despite the devastating disappointment of allowing a win to slip through their fingers the manager refused to be too downbeat.

Ancelotti had called for his players to be braver and saw progress on that front.

"I think the idea, the way we played was good. We have to follow this idea: to train well in training, to work hard and have a clear idea," he added.

"I thought today we were OK offensively and defensively, we played more vertically than the last few games. I am really pleased for this.

"It is true we could have stayed more focused on set-pieces and it's true we could have been more focused in the last minutes but I think the team played a fantastic game for all 90 minutes.

"We are disappointed but to the other side we are really pleased with the performance."

The point gave Newcastle manager Steve Bruce a lift as he tries to cope with an injury-ravaged squad with nine senior players absent.

Nabil Bentaleb's loan from Schalke eases the situation and Bruce is optimistic some other players could be back for the FA Cup tie with Oxford.

"We hope we have two, three of four back for Saturday but I've never known anything like it," he said.

"Andy (Carroll), (DeAndre) Yedlin could be back. (Allan) Saint-Maximin, Bentaleb."

On his new signing the Magpies boss added: "He was someone who we identified and he is good player.

"He's played at a high level with Spurs, got a big money move to Schalke and has played 90 to 100 times at the top end of the Bundesliga. He's a good acquisition for us."