Pardew hopes strong start leads to cash

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew said his side’s strong start to the season will hopefully result in a bigger budget for transfers.

The Magpies followed up their goalless draw with Arsenal in their opening game of the season with a 1-0 win away to Sunderland on Saturday.

Pardew praised his team after the win and said he hopes it will inspire the club’s owners to invest in some new players.

“What a victory like today helps is it helps me and Derek and Mike to go upstairs and say ‘Come on, let’s try and get them (new players) in this week’,” Pardew said.

“Because, we want to get the right players and we want to get them for the best value that we can and we’re trying to do that.”

“The group I’ve got are sound, they’re aware to balance us up we perhaps need a left back in the building and we need a striker and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

Pardew said taking four points from their opening two fixtures was as good as Newcastle could have predicted before the season.

“To get four points out of those two games is a real tick in the box and I think the thing we answered today, which I said the players afterwards, the spirit is still there,” he said.

“We were applauded for our spirit last year and quite rightly so. We’ve got new players but we haven’t lost that spirit and that was evident today because there were times during the game when we had difficulties and your spirit needs to pull you through.”

Sunderland had their chances at the Stadium of Light, and manager Steve Bruce was disappointed his side failed to take them.

“The first half in a big game like this, with the dominance we had – we had to score, the times we got down the sides and had the chances to score was incredible really and at this level when you don’t take the chances you are always liable to get hit by the sucker punch, and be caught like we were,” Bruce said.

“I thought there was only one team in it first half, but they score a goal and that changes it. But up until they scored we were the better team.

“All the football in the first half, particularly, came from us so it is disappointing we could not score at that moment.”