Among other things, she discussed the performances and role of midfielder Molly Pike on the team this season, with her versatility being a key component of Oxtoby's system.

The reverse fixture - Newcastle's final game of 2025 - was a narrow win for the Magpies so their manager wants to see them put chances away and be clinical, like they were against Southampton Women last weekend.

United can record back-to-back WSL2 wins for only the second time this season, the first being when Oxtoby won her first two league matches in charge in December, with the Magpies aiming to close the gap on the top three this weekend.

Here are the key points from Oxtoby's pre-match interview…

ON BEATING SOUTHAMPTON…

"I think it had a little bit of everything, just like the last time we played them. We had some really good spells and we were clinical when we had our opportunities, but statistically, it probably wasn't our best game with the ball.

"Out of possession, I thought we did enough, and we stifled them enough in certain areas."

ON MOLLY PIKE…

"Molly is so versatile; sometimes she thinks that's a bit to her detriment, but I love working with her. I think her athleticism and her technical ability are a real pleasure to work with.

"You can see her adaptability in our style. I thought she was brilliant on the weekend, and from our point of view, we continue to try and challenge her and see where we can get her to."

ON PORTSMOUTH…

"I said it at the time, but I thought we should've killed (the reverse fixture) game off early doors because we dominated, but that's probably been the story of the last few games for us when we've had a lot of the ball.

"So we'll be looking to start well again as we did against Southampton because we don't underestimate anyone in this league and give every opponent the respect they deserve."

ON BUILDING MOMENTUM…

"We want momentum, and while there are elements of our game we need to keep improving, we need the players to feel they're improving and to have confidence. I think we saw that in the performance on Sunday.

"We want to carry that forward, because nobody wants to go into this block off the back of a poor performance, and we want to put our best foot forward."