Alan Pardew praised Ryan Taylor after he returned from his injury nightmare in Newcastle United s 2-0 League Cup win over Manchester City.
Taylor has had to recover from two serious knee ligament injuries in the last two years, and Wednesday s fourth-round tie at the Etihad Stadium was his first start for Newcastle since August 2012.
Goals from Rolando Aarons and Moussa Sissoko gave Newcastle a surprise victory against the League Cup holders.
And Pardew was quick to hail the returning Taylor, who put in an accomplished performance at the heart of Newcastle s midfield.
He did outstanding, said Pardew. His performance was what he is all about discipline and quality, which is what he s like as an individual.
You have to remember when you can t do what you want to do, it s very frustrating as a professional athlete.
He s been restricted to what he does best, so of course he s going to be emotional.
But what a great night for him and us.
We re just delighted that we managed to give him a platform.
He had 10 good players around him and he couldn t ask for more than that.
Newcastle will face Tottenham in the last eight after Mauricio Pochettino s side beat Brighton and Hove Albion in their fourth-round clash.
