LEE Clark was happy with his side's performance as they enjoyed long periods of attacking possession despite going down 3-0 at Man Utd.

The Magpies found themselves trailing by two goals at half-time, but they managed to rally and were unlucky not to be rewarded after dominating much of the second period.

But Clark, who spoke to nufc.co.uk after the full-time whistle, believes it was the class of Alan Smith which was the difference between the two Uniteds.

The former Toon favourite said: "Smith was excellent all evening and to be fair he was the difference, he made it look easy and our lads at the back had a rough ride.

"It's a disappointing result, but I like to look at performances and I was pleased with our offensive play.

"We started well and got the ball out to Alan O'Brien a lot in the first-half, but unfortunately we didn't turn that into enough shots on target.

"I thought we dominated the second-half and going forward I was very happy with our display over the 90 minutes. We passed the ball well in midfield and were unlucky not to create more chances.

"I was disappointed with our defensive performance however, especially as some of the senior Reserve lads were playing there. We were sloppy at times and that has cost us."

Watch Lee Clark talk about this Saturday's Tyne-Tees derby and reflect on last season's fixture when it was his 93rd minute equaliser which snatched a last-gasp point for the Geordies ... Newcastle World brings you this exclusive video for free on our home page.

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