Newcastle United head coach Steve McClaren has revealed that he thought about making wholesale changes to his side ahead of Sunday's win over Liverpool.
The Magpies were beaten 5-1 at Crystal Palace last weekend, but bounced back as they defeated the Merseysiders 2-0 at St James' Park and picked up their first win since October in the process.
McClaren has suggested that his decision to give the players a chance to rectify what went wrong at Selhurst Park paid off.
He told Setanta Sports: "We have been looking at various things. Changing the personnel. I considered leaving out every one of them!
"On Thursday evening we slept on it and said, 'Well, that team, more or less, that started the last six or seven games, were collecting points'. It was a case of people outrunning opponents. Being competitive. We gave everyone the chance to put it right.
"It has been a tough two weeks. The team have taken a lot of criticism – rightly so. We have no qualms. The only response you can give is on the pitch. We said you have to out-work Liverpool. Then you have a chance of winning."
Newcastle have moved level with Bournemouth and Norwich City in the table on 13 points with the win.
Steven Toplis
