Chris Hughton offers a revealing insight into the '˜pressure' at Newcastle

Brighton and Hove Albion held Rafa Benitez’s side to a goalless draw at the stadium on Saturday.

There were boos at the final whistle from some frustrated home fans.

United were second-best for long spells, though they pushed hard for a winner in the last 15 minutes.

And Brighton manager Hughton – who guided Newcastle out of the Championship in 2010 – knows the “pressure” that the club’s players have to deal with every time they play at the stadium.

“If you want to play for Newcastle, you have to be able to deal with the anxiety of the crowd sometimes,” said Hughton.

“Every single of these players wants to play for Newcastle. It’s a brilliant arena, but it comes with the territory.

“The top players, anywhere in the world, are under pressure every time they play, and that comes here at Newcastle.

“But it’s a wonderful place to play football.

“As an opposition manager, it’s the same at any big stadium if you can have good periods and frustrate the opposition.

“Newcastle supporters are no different. They’re desperate to get behind their team.

“They want to see their team pushing forward – and scoring goals – and if it doesn’t happen, as good as this crowd at Newcastle is, anxiety can set in.

“The only way we can exploit that, is to play well.

“We’re not doing anything underhand, we just had good periods in the game.”