Newcastle boss Graeme Souness hailed his injury-ravaged side after a youthful Magpies line-up crushed Fulham 3-1 on Wednesday.
Darren Ambrose, Patrick Kluivert and Shola Ameobi were on target as United ended a run of seven Barclays Premiership matches without victory in emphatic fashion at Craven Cottage.
Souness said: "I'm very happy with the result and for once I'm not going to wake up miserable. We've played better in the last two games but drew. This time we did the hard part and scored some goals.
"We gave the ball away too much but that is understandable given the young team we had out. When Alan Hansen said you don't win anything with kids I agreed with him. I know United did it that season but not many have done it since.
"We've struggled with injuries and have had to rely on some inexperienced players. We looked naive at times but I couldn't have asked for any more. There's no team selection at the moment because injuries and suspensions mean the side picks itself."
Souness sprang a major surprise by omitting Alan Shearer - who has failed to score in his last 10 Premiership outings - from the squad when he was expected to feature among the substitutes.
He explained: "Alan took it really badly when we were knocked out of the UEFA Cup because he knew it was our best chance of winning something this season.
"He has been feeling physically and physiologically drained and asked if he could be left out tonight. I could not have asked for any more from him on or off the pitch this season so I said yes."
Fulham boss Chris Coleman revealed his frustration at a result which follows hot on the heels of their impressive 2-0 victory over
Everton last Saturday.
He said: "It's very disappointing. There was a danger this could happen after we guaranteed our safety against
Everton and I could sense something was flat after all the emotion we've shown over the last four matches.
"We've not lost at home since the end of December so it's a shame to see that record end - it would have been great record if we could have continued it until the end of the season.
"If we'd beaten
Newcastle we could have finished as high as 12th which would have been a fantastic end to the season, but it's obviously not meant to be."
Steed Malbranque was left out of the squad once again but Coleman insisted he had no intention of letting the unsettled French midfielder leave Craven Cottage.
He said: "Steed has a future here. I was disappointed he walked out before the
Everton game when he found out he wasn't in the squad, I didn't find out what he had done until after the match.
"But he was back in training on Monday and he trained hard. Tonight he showed his commitment and proved he wants to be a part of the team by not sulking and joining in at half time. That tells me everything."
