STEVE MCCLAREN was delighted with Florian Thauvin’s impact following his home debut in Newcastle United’s 4-1 victory over Northampton Town.

The Magpies eased past the Cobblers with a comfortable victory in which Thauvin scored and created the other three for Siem De Jong, Mike Williamson and Daryl Janmaat, leaving head coach McClaren impressed with what he saw.

“I thought he was very good when he came on for ten minutes against Manchester United,” said McClaren of the £12million signing from Marseille. “He’s been terrific in training. You never know what to expect, but he’s confident, he has great ability, but the key thing is he can score and he can assist.

“[His delivery] is going to be vital. You can have tall men, the best headers in the world, but if you don’t get good delivery you’re nothing. You saw that his delivery was excellent. A score and assist, and do the work, that’s what he can do.”

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McClaren made nine changes to his team from the side that earned a 0-0 draw at Manchester United on Saturday, but was able to name a side easily capable of seeing off League Two Northampton, with Thauvin linking up with De Jong, Ayoze Perez and Rolando Aarons in attack.

McClaren added: “What pleased me was that attacking-wise we looked more of a threat than we have done in previous games. The squad’s coming together very nicely, and I emphasise the word ‘squad’.

“But the movement between that front four was a threat. Good link-ups from De Jong, Ayoze, the eye of Thauvin, and the pace of Rolando caused them problems.”

Thauvin impressed alongside De Jong, who lasted the full 90 minutes in front of a crowd of 26,923, and McClaren hopes to see more of the Dutch attacker who spent much of last year on the sidelines.

“You see the quality that he has got, once you get the ball to him in that space, in that area, he can pick runners and players with a great pass” said McClaren. “He could have scored more goals as well. You saw a bit of the old Siem De Jong.

“It was a great crowd and they’ve probably gone away like I am, pleased with the attacking side of what we did.

“This was a tricky tie, they always are. All in all it was a professional job. It’s nice to win and score a few goals.”