Georginio Wijnaldum And Chancel Mbemba Have "Made An Impact" At Newcastle

Georginio Wijnaldum and Chancel Mbemba "made an impact" for Newcastle United during their Barclays Premier League debuts, believes Magpies head coach Steve McClaren. The summer signings both started Newcastle's opening-day 2-2 draw against Southampton at St James' Park last weekend, with former PSV Eindhoven midfielder Wijnaldum even grabbing the Magpies' second with a magnificent bullet header. Mbemba also performed well at the heart of Newcastle's defence, aside from being out-jumped by Graziano Pelle for Saints' opener, and McClaren was "encouraged" by their bows in black and white.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Newcastle's trip to face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, McClaren said of the pair (NUFCTV, paywall):

"They made an impact and I think that's what we wanted. "We were a little bit, well you don't know what you're going to get the first day but we were very happy with the debutants and the subs coming on as well. "It was good to see Wijnaldum getting off the mark, he has a habit of scoring goals - and I thought it was terrific goal. "(It was also) good to see Chancel, I think that's his first game with Coloccini, and I think that will be a good partnership. "The signs from last week were encouraging but it's gone (now), (there's a) new test (against Swansea)."

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