Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor hailed the energy of their midfield for victory at Stoke City.

Taylor, another Britannia Stadium star on Monday night, believes Alan Pardew's men will never lie down in their search for Premier League glory.

He said: "The stats show we are all working harder than we have in previous years. With and without the ball, we get through a lot of work. We try to get the ball back as quickly as possible.

"I would imagine Jonas, for example, would have got through about 15 or 16km at Stoke.

"He was unbelievable, non-stop. But even in training he has a phenomenal work ethic. Gabriel Obertan on the other wing also works extremely hard.

"The players we have just never stop running. They keep going and going and going. I would like to compare them to a Duracell battery, though I think even a Duracell battery would conk out before those two.

"Jonas and Obertan were on fire but everyone worked hard - from the forwards all the way back.

"The lads up front were getting battered around but they got up and got on with it. Yohan Cabaye and the midfield moved it around and overall it was a terrific team performance."