Manchester United U21 Warren Joyce praised Tom Thorpe's performance in victory over Newcastle United.

The skipper opened the scoring with a superb header before Tom Lawrence came off the bench to grab the winner as the Reds leapfrogged the Magpies in the table.

"Tom was excellent throughout the game," Joyce told MUTV. "He prefers playing at the back but we've not got an abundance of midfield players at the minute at this level. It's trying to rotate to fit everyone in the team and we've got two or three centre-halves.

"He certainly put in a shift for the side. He headed it at both ends, put some great tackles in and uses the ball sensibly as well."