Matthias Jaissle hailed his senior stars as Newcastle United beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park, with the goals coming from Will Osula and Harvey Barnes.

The Newcastle boss changed his defence, bringing club captain Dan Burn and Fabian Schär in for Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw. He also brought Osula in for Yoane Wissa up front.

The win lifted Newcastle to seventh and piled the pressure on Palace boss Pierre Sage.

Jaissle: Young Group “Shaking a Bit”

Jaissle said that the recent defeats had affected his young team, leaving them “shaking”.

He decided to drop Botman and Thiaw and it paid off. Elder statesmen Burn and Schär gave the kind of assured performances that Newcastle have been missing at the back.

He admitted that he played them because they “have the capacity to coach others and communicate on the pitch.”

After surviving a Palace onslaught at the start of the game, the pair marshalled the defence well, and the team grew in confidence.

Jaissle said after the game: “For me, it’s important to mention that Sven and Malick did a good job in the last week. But today we went for more experience, for leadership skills in particular to give stabilisation for a young group and a group who was shaking a bit with the defeats. We’re really glad that it worked out.”

He was impressed with the performance in the second half, describing it as more “target-orientated”, and clearly got his message across at half-time because the players responded in the second half.

He said: “[In the first half] We couldn’t get ourselves the reward for the intensity we put in out of possession after the ball wins.

“In the second half, it was much better. We were more target-orientated, we threatened the opposition more and, therefore, I think when it comes to the second half and that improvement.

“In the end, also that willingness to defend and to have that clean sheet. It was a deserved win.”

He praised Osula, who made his first start since getting injured in the season opener against Liverpool.

Jaissle said: “He did an amazing job. We’re happy that he’s getting back on track. He was out for a long time. So now physically, he’s improving – and he’s a player with huge potential.”

Jaissle: “Everybody Dug In”

The Magpies boss was pleased with the “team effort” – something they have been criticised for recently. Newcastle have wilted when things get tough, but they showed resilience at Selhurst Park.

Jaissle said: “It was a team effort. Everybody dug in. That’s obviously the ethic that you’re trying to get this team to produce because when you’re all together, great things can happen.

“For sure, we need to identify ourselves as a unit, as a team who overcomes setbacks and that’s what we did today.”

Newcastle are in action again on Thursday night, when they play Everton in the Carabao Cup.

Teams

Crystal Palace: Benítez, Canvot, Disasi, Richards, Mitchell, Kamada, Wharton (c), Khalaili, Pino, McNeil (Osorio, 63), Mateta (Nketiah, 62)

Unused subs: Chilwell, Doucouré, Guessand, Hughes, Lerma, Matthews, Mingueza

Newcastle United: Horníček, Hall, Burn (c), Schär, Dedić (Thiaw, 95), Joelinton (Steur, 85), Nico, Barnes (Elanga, 77), Willock (Ramsey, 77), Murphy, Osula (Wissa, 77)

Unused subs: Pope, Botman, Bamba, Touré

Referee: Paul Tierney