Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has praised Steve Harper over his loan move to Brighton.

United had been rotating both Harper and summer signing Rob Elliot for first-team bench duty, with the Easington-born keeper an unused substitute against Wigan Athletic.

Discussing Harper's one-month loan switch to the south coast, Pardew told the Evening Chronicle : "He just wanted to play.

"Not all the top players in the country would have gone on loan - you're vulnerable.

"You're going down a division, but he was prepared to do that, and fair play to him."