Newcastle United defeated Liverpool 2-0 at home in the Premier League last weekend.
Newcastle United head coach Steve McClaren has explained to The Shields Gazette why he did not include Ayoze Perez in his starting lineup against Liverpool last weekend.
Perez started the Premier League game against Liverpool at St. James’ Park on the substitutes’ bench.
The 22-year-old Spanish forward eventually come on in the 68th minute, replacing Siem de Jong as the Magpies registered a surprise 2-0 win.
“Ayoze is a fantastic player,” McClaren has explained to The Shields Gazette. “Sometimes form goes up and down. We’ve got good players.
“I’ve got to say Siem de Jong has been very frustrated, but very patient, and I think he deserved his opportunity after coming on against Crystal Palace.
“We said ‘we’ll just go for a bit of experience with Siem de Jong and Papiss’, and they worked well together.”
The 2-0 win against Liverpool means that Newcastle are now third from bottom in the Premier League table.
The Magpies will return to action on Sunday evening when they take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Winning against Spurs in North London will be far from easy, but the Newcastle players will head into the game with confidence.
Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League table at the moment with 26 points from 15 matches, just three points behind fourth-place Manchester United.
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