Alan Pardew: “I’m pretty confident about what Liverpool will do.
“I think I know Brendan well enough to know how they will play, but I think we can surprise them.
“One thing’s for sure - Brendan won’t know my team, but I’m confident what his will be.
“I always enjoy the build-up to a game and the game itself.
“It’s only the end bit when you guys get your teeth out that’s it’s really uncomfortable.
“But I love this football club and the players are showing they it too.
“What is is important is that we’re winning games again and that’s what the fans want to see. I think we have a group that could excite them this year.
“There is a lot of pace in the squad and it’s about getting it on the pitch and using it in the right manner, which we are doing at the moment.
“It’s a nice transitional period for us. We have had a couple of very good teams here in my time but last year it kind of fell away for us and we are trying to build a new side.
“It takes time to bed in, but we are starting to find our feet.
“I didn’t expect Pellegrini to go as strong as he did. I did think long and hard about our team because one or two players I was concerned about, particularly Rolando and Ryan.
“They hadn’t really done enough training to warrant playing even half a game, which I had pencilled in for them. But that worked out well for us.
“They both trained so well the day before that I went with my instincts rather than logic.
“We have players in form at the moment and right now it’s difficult to pick the bench, let alone the team. It’s important the squad has some depth to it because that’s always been a problem since I’ve been here.”