Taylor joy after 'massive' win

Newcastle defender Steven Taylor described tonight’s 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Middlesbrough as “massive” after turning in a man-of-the-match performance.

Taylor scored the Magpies’ first goal to send them on their way to a vital win in the north-east derby and keep alive Newcastle’s hopes of staving off relegation from the Premier League.

“We were magnificent tonight,” Taylor told Setanta Sports 1 after his header had cancelled out Habib Beye’s early own goal. “It’s massive and three points definitely helps us.

“We need to take this and build on it. We are full of confidence now and can’t wait until the next game.

“It was the best feeling ever to get back in the game. Things haven’t gone our way recently but it was different tonight.”

Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in seven weeks tonight and Taylor paid tribute to temporary boss Alan Shearer’s impact.

“He deserves it,” Taylor added. “He and Iain Dowie have been fantastic for us. They’ve worked hard and everyone is doing a good job.

“If we stay up it’ll be the best feeling ever. This is a big club which should be in Europe, not in this position. But we’ve only got ourselves to blame for where we are.”

Shearer's substitions in the second half proved inspirational as Obafemi Martins put Newcastle in the lead within minutes of coming on for Michael Owen and Peter Lovenkrands volleyed home late on to put the game beyond doubt.

But he admitted: “You make substitutions at that time hoping to make an impact, but I’d be a liar if I thought they’d make an impact that quick.

“We were brilliant tonight and I couldn’t have asked any more of the team. To go 1-0 down and come back showed character. It’s a magnificent feeling. It’s a long time since we had a win.

“The club needed it, the players needed it, we all needed it.

“There’s still a long way to go. We’ll be back in training tomorrow morning to look at a few things. I’ve said to the players ’Enjoy being out of the bottom three’. Hopefully we stay out of there – it’s in our own hands now.

“This won’t be enough. We’ve won one and we’ve got two to go. We need at least another win but hopefully we’ve now got the belief and confidence back.”

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate did not think the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game.

“We looked dangerous when we attacked in that opening half an hour,” he said. “Newcastle looked nervous at the back. We scored early and needed to keep that lead for longer.

“They are our local rivals and it’s difficult to listen to them celebrating. But even though we lost, I’m very proud of the players. They are young players who played like men tonight.

“We’ve got two games left and we’ve got to try and win those. We’ve got to hang in there.”