STEVEN TAYLOR was delighted that Newcastle picked up their first Premier League victory of the season – but admitted that they had to do it the ‘ugly’ way.

A poor start to the campaign has left the Magpies in the bottom three, and while Saturday’s win against Leicester City has not changed that situation, Taylor believes Newcastle can use their first three points of the season as a catalyst for greater things.

“There was hard work throughout the team, which is what we needed. Everyone put a shift in on Saturday, if we carried one person we wouldn’t have got a result,” said Taylor, after Gabriel Obertan scored his first goal in almost two years to kill off the Foxes in a game that was delayed by an hour owing to a problem with the new big screen at St James’ Park.

“That’s what you need to kick-start the season, when you see the games we’ve got coming up, it’s a massive confidence boost for us. It hasn’t been going so well for us in recent weeks, but sometimes you have to win a bit ugly. I thought in the second half we stuck at it well and we controlled the game, and we saw the game off.”

Newcastle will face Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool in the space of eight days, but Taylor does not want to look too far ahead.

He added: “The main thing is we take it game by game, don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, enjoy today and see what we can improve on. Next week will be a big week.”

A near full-house at St James’ Park was a largely positive place to be on Saturday, with the protests that have punctuated previous games non-existent for a change, and Taylor hopes that the supporters can stay behind the team as the season progresses.

“You hear about all the bad stuff that has been going on, we’ve just got to keep at it,” said Taylor. “The main thing is that as a team we stick together, the guys have got to go and do the business on the pitch. On Saturday, we did that and we sent everyone home happy so they could enjoy their weekend.

“I’ve experienced that in the past, and you have to. If you let it affect you, you have no chance, you just have to get on with it. That’s part and parcel of being a Newcastle United player. You’re going to get this kind of criticism. It’s how you react from it.

“I thought everybody put the effort in . The lads were fighting for every ball, chasing back, blocks at the end, it was a fully deserved three points.

“Hopefully now we can move on, we’ve given the gaffer a massive headache to pick his next side.”

Obertan continued his recent form with a man of the match display on Tyneside, grabbing the winning goal after completing a swift counter-attack. And Taylor feels that his success is richly deserved.

“If you speak to any of the squad members, they’ll all tell you that Gabby is a top quality player,” explained Taylor.

“ He’s in there all the time, in the gym, working hard, his workrate has been spot on. JC and Stoney have kept on at him about his workrate but that’s what we’ve seen, he was brilliant on Saturday. He caused so many problems for them, first half, second half, even the last five minutes he’s running down the flank. He was an outlet and that’s something we’ve not had.

“He’s a top player. He’s just not had the chances. You’ve got to wait for your chance, and the manager picks you. He’s done well when he’s been asked to play. He’s a top player and I think very highly of him, today’s performance shows that.”