Former Fulham star believes Newcastle United players proved a point in Craven Cottage draw

Newcastle United’s performance in Saturday’s draw at Premier League rivals Fulham shows the Magpies squad are behind head coach Matthias Jaissle - according to former Liverpool star Danny Murphy.

Jaissle’s men made the trip to Craven Cottage on the back of a poor performance in Monday night’s home defeat against Everton as a Thierno Barry goal helped the Toffees claim all three points at St James Park. There had been a lot of discussion over whether the United squad was behind the former RB Salzburg and Al-Ahli boss in the days after that loss and all eyes were on Saturday’s game against Fulham to see if there was a reaction to the criticism they recieved.

There was an improvement in the performance from Newcastle and they looked to be on their way to all three points when Jacob Murphy’s stunning, long-range goal put them in front with just ten minutes remaining. A Rodrigo Muniz equaliser just three minutes later ensured the points were shared and United will head into the international break sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

However, former Fulham midfielder Murphy believes the Magpies showed they are behind their manager with the attitude they showed during the draw.

When asked if the Magpies performance was an improvement after the disappointment against Everton, speaking on Match of the Day, Murphy said: “It was really. A group of players playing for their manager against a good Fulham side in a good run of form and they showed enough to tell me they’re behind him. They went after Fulham at times, they created some great chances and they’ll probably feel, although Fulham had chances as well, they’ll probably feel they could have won. They always play attacking football under Jaissle and yes, it leaves them a bit open at times.”

He continued: “The mindset and the mentality of the team was good, they were fighting. It was a good game, two decent sides and I think really good signs they can react after a really poor couple of performances.”

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