Danny Guthrie has put behind him the dispute with Reading boss Brian McDermott which saw him fined two weeks wages. The midfielder apologised to McDermott and his team-mates after refusing to travel to Sunderland last month and was reinstated to the first team.
"I'm really enjoying it and whatever has gone on in the past is clearly out of the window," Guthrie said on his club's official website.
"I felt like I owed everyone not just a performance, but a bit of form to get us out of the hole we were in. I feel like I'm slowly doing that."
The 25 year old added: "I'm getting stronger in each game, and I got stronger as the game went on (at Newcastle).
"To put back-to-back wins together in this league is tough - especially in the position we're in. It's massive.
"I was told that this club always gets stronger after Christmas and we've certainly done that.
"This is just the start of a run of games we need to put together."
"By no means we're out of trouble, but we're just looking at it game by game and it's a nice position that we've put ourselves in."