Jonas Gutierrez has hailed the form of Newcastle United teammate Davide Santon.

Santon was given a gradual introduction to life in England by Alan Pardew but has been an ever-present since helping to avert a defensive crisis in the wake of injuries to Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor.

"He loves to get forward. He sometimes has to know the moment to go and the moment to stay back," Jonas told The Journal. "But he is young, he will learn that. Sometimes he can go, sometimes he should stay. He's so young, has too much energy and maybe he just wants to show what he can do.

"For me, that is incredible. With an offensive player you just have to give him the ball and he will do the rest. He has amazing ability."