Paul Dummett has revealed Newcastle United players were left in no doubt about their task against Fulham after a dressing room blasting from Steve Bruce.
Bruce told his side in no uncertain terms how poor they'd been in the first half against the Cottagers with Callum Wilson's penalty sparing blushes after the break.
Although, while Newcastle did hit back they were unable to snatch all three points and now face a tough trio of fixtures against Manchester City, Liverpool and Leicester City to complete the festive period.
Dummett said: "In the end, we were a bit disappointed to get the draw.
"Especially as they went down to 10 men.
"The first half was so poor. As stupid as it sounds I didn't enjoy it, and I know it was my first game in a while, we were just running around chasing shadows really.
"The second half we came out and got on the front-foot and started playing a bit more."
And Dummett, who is back from a clutch of different injuries suffered in 2020, stated Bruce told his players to lift their game during an intense half-time team talk.
Dummett, speaking to NUFC TV, added: "We weren't good enough from the first whistle.
"I think we all knew that at half-time.
"The manager made that clear as well.
"We knew we had to come out and put in a better performance, I don't think it could have got much worse than our first half."
