Alan Pardew: “Our clean sheet record is getting better, and defensively we’ve been tight.
“Other than Arsenal, we’ve been tight. That was 45 minutes where we lost focus, but other than that, we’ve been strong. I’ve been pleased with the defenders.
“We have Steven Taylor available on Saturday, and it adds to our armoury.
“Willo had to wait, and Steven knows he has to wait.
“Steven was in the team when I came, and he was playing well.”
"Davies is a good player, and an outstanding professional, but our centre-halves are doing well, and we’ve kept a couple of clean sheets.”