Ex-Newcastle man reacts to Sunderland brace and praises Alex Neil's tactics after Stoke City win

The former Newcastle man scored the visitors’ fourth and fifth goals as Alex Neil’s team ran out comfortable winners despite their inconsistent form in recent weeks.

“It was just the perfect away performance really,” said Gayle after the match. “I thought we were really good defensively and they obviously are a good football-playing side.

“I thought we countered really well and took our opportunities when we got near the goal.

“The way we set up tactically, I thought the boys were spot on with what we were asked to do and on the counter we looked promising and could have scored a couple more maybe. I always thought we looked strong defensively.

“It seems to be the case at the moment that we score a flurry of goals in some games and then struggle in others. Hopefully we can just get some consistency between now and the end of the season.”

After making over 100 appearances for Newcastle, Gayle, who had previously scored just once in 27 league games for Stoke, provoked the Sunderland fans while celebrating his goals.

When asked about scoring against Sunderland, Gayle replied: “Of course being from this way it means so much to both sides and it was nice to score against them.

“It’s obviously been a frustrating season for myself in front of goal but every week I try my hardest in terms of what I can bring to the team and I’ll continue to do that.”