SIR Bobby Robson was happy to see United book their place in the next round of the UEFA Cup following their narrow 1-0 success in Breda.

The home side looked far better defensively than they had in the first meeting between the two teams, and with chances at a premium during the game it looked as though it was going to finish all square until Laurent Robert popped up with the winner late on.

"The game was won at St. James' Park in the first leg," said Sir Bobby.

"We knew they would want to play better at home than they had done at Newcastle. Their coach said that before the game, and with respect he will know his team could only have played better than they did in that first game.

"They caused us problems and had a couple of good players who kept us on our toes. They defended well and created a lot through midfield, so we have to be happy with the victory.

"Steve Harper made a couple of good saves, then we got the goal and could have made it 2-0 at the end when LuaLua missed an incredible opportunity. Only Lua could have missed that - I think he was looking for his second ball!

"It's a good win for us, and we're on a good little run now. We've got a busy schedule coming up - that's why I left out Shearer, and we will be wanting to continue that run.

"I think we're starting to get that little bit of excitement now with this competition. We were all disappointed at going out of the Champions League, but that's history now and we'll look forward to the draw for the next stage."