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Steve McClaren insists Ayoze Perez is a “fantastic player” but has revealed he dropped the forward in order to bring “a bit of experience” into his side against Liverpool.

Siem de Jong made his first Premier League start of the season, and only his second start since moving to Tyneside in the summer of 2014, as Perez dropped to the bench for the 2-0 victory over Liverpool last weekend.

Though McClaren rates Perez and accepts the 22-year-old can feel a little hard done by, he believes his decision to start with the experienced duo of De Jong and Papiss Cisse paid dividends.

McClaren said: “Ayoze is a fantastic player (but) sometimes form goes up and down.

“We’ve got good players.

“I’ve got to say Siem de Jong has been very frustrated, but very patient, and I think he deserved his opportunity after coming on against Crystal Palace.

“We said, ‘We’ll just go for a bit of experience with Siem de Jong and Papiss’, and they worked well together.”

McClaren must now decide whether to change a winning team for the daunting trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

“It’s always a dilemma,” he added. “I don’t like doing it, as you like to gain momentum, but Tottenham are a different opponent and a different proposition.”

McClaren has no fresh injury concerns this week, while three players are moving closer to a return.

Centre-back Jamaal Lascelles has returned to training, while Cheick Tiote and Rolando Aarons should do likewise in the next few days.

McClaren continued: “Team-wise, squad-wise, probably exactly the same as we were last week.

“There are a couple very close to coming back – Tiote is a couple of days away from training with us, Rolando Aarons also, and Jamaal is out on the grass again, so things are looking up for the next few weeks.

“But certainly for Spurs, it’s the same as last (week).”