Winning return for Andros

Back-to-back wins have been just the tonic for Andros Townsend after enduring a frustrating spell on the sidelines.

The England international’s marvellous season took an abrupt turn for the worse when he pulled up with a hamstring injury in December’s Capital One Cup tie against West Ham.

The 22-year-old made his long-awaited first team comeback off the bench in last weekend’s victory against Everton – but it was Wednesday’s thrilling win at Newcastle United that really gave him a lift.

“It’s been a tough couple of months for me,” conceded Andros, who replaced Mousa Dembele with around half an hour left at St James’ Park.

“I picked up my hamstring injury when I was in the form of my life, so it was disappointing to have that setback.

“It was good to come back against Everton and to play another half-hour at Newcastle was great for me. It’s been a long time coming. Hopefully I’ll push on, get some starts and help the club to have a successful season.”

Andros confessed that kicking his heels on the treatment table for two months meant he was determined to come back with a bang.

And with six points out of six gained from our last two Premier League outings and a two-legged Europa League tie against Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk coming up, he admitted he’s champing at the bit to re-establish himself in the team.

“It’s the first real injury I’ve had in my career, the first time I’ve really missed more than one match,” he said.

“It was difficult but you have to come back stronger. I’ve had that little rest now and I’m looking to kick on again.

“You have to take the plus side – I played a lot of games in the first six months of the season and (the spell out) was a chance to rest, take a step back and come back stronger for the rest of the season.”