Newcastle United winger Matt Ritchie has hailed his teammates for executing the gameplan against Swansea perfectly.

Despite the absence of Rafael Benitez on the sidelines, United put up a tactical masterclass to claim a 1-0 victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday and following the game, Ritchie hailed his side for executing the game plan to perfection.

Ritchie told the club's weekend: "I'm delighted with the three points, more than anything else. We need to keep racking those points up and continue to improve on what we've been doing. It was a completely different performance to the West Ham one (a fortnight ago), but again it's the same result.

"We've worked throughout the week, on being compact – as always – and I think today it kept us in the game in the first half. In the second half, we were able to be a bit more counter-attacking. We soaked up the pressure and got up the pitch a few times, and had the final pass been a bit better we maybe could have created a few more chances."