Boss Chris Hughton will head into the new year a disappointed man despite seeing his Newcastle side sitting six points clear at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship.
The Magpies saw another two points slip from their grasp as Derby claimed a battling 0-0 draw at St James' Park two days after lowly Sheffield Wednesday had also denied them victory. That left second-placed West Brom, who have a game in hand, six points adrift with Nottingham Forest in third a further two points off the pace.
Hughton said: "It's probably testament to where we are at this moment that we have a very disappointed and frustrated changing room in there."
He added: "But the reality is the performance was a good performance and a performance that on most occasions will win us the game.
"It's another clean sheet and of course it's a game we haven't lost at St James', so there are a lot of positives and certainly more positives at the moment than there are negatives."
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
