Gaffer Heaps Praise On Toon Trio

ALAN Shearer has hailed the resolute effort of his three-man backline following Saturday's spirited 1-1 draw at Stoke.

The Toon boss switched to a 3-5-2 system at the Britannia Stadium with Habib Beye, David Edgar and Sebastien Bassong the men charged with the task of nullifying the Potters' aerial bombardment.

And gaffer Shearer was delighted with his new-look rearguard as they stood strong in the face of wave after wave of attacking airborne assaults.

"The three big lads - Sebastien Bassong, Habib Beye and David Edgar - more than matched (Ricardo) Fuller and (James) Beattie and not many teams can handle those two," he told nufcTV.

"I thought we defended the aerial bombardment very well and, although I don't like to single out individuals, I thought the back three were magnificent."

He added: "We demanded that they tried to push out and get that ball because that's where our extra man was and they did that second-half.

"We tried to move them around a little bit more rather than play the long ball and it worked and I thought we might have gone on to get the three points."