Forgotten man Gabriel Obertan has insisted he never doubted himself after easing the pressure on beleaguered Newcastle boss Alan Pardew with a priceless winner.
The 25-year-old winger secured a 1-0 victory over the Foxes with a decisive 71st-minute strike which underlined both the talent he has and the fact that it has remained largely unfulfilled during his time on Tyneside.
But former the Manchester United midfielder revealed he never lost faith in himself as he redoubled his efforts to to persuade Pardew he still had a role to play at St James' Park after it appeared that his days in the north-east were over.
Obertan told NUFC TV: "I have always been confident in myself and my ability, so it might be a surprise for some people, but not for me. I have been grinding quite a while for this and it's just a great feeling at the moment.
"I just kept on working hard. I know the most important thing is working when people don't see you.
"It's easy to train when you have got the coaches patting you on the back, but these moments when you are by yourself are the moments when you really have to work hard and dig deep."
Obertan appeared to be surplus to requirements at St James' as Pardew re-shaped his squad during the summer, and he was not even on the plane when the Magpies headed for New Zealand as part of their pre-season preparations.
However, he was the toast of the Toon on Saturday evening after finally ending the club's wait for a first Barclays Premier League win of the campaign at the eighth attempt, in the process sparing them from a worst ever start.
On an eventful day on Tyneside - there are rarely any other kind - Obertan and his team-mates had to wait an hour to set about their task after the dressing panels surrounding a newly-erected giant TV screen were loosened by the wind, requiring a speedy repair job by hastily-summoned engineers.
Thereafter, it proved far from straightforward as stubborn Leicester defence and sub-standard finishing kept the scoreline unchanged until 19 minutes from time.
Leicester full-back Richie de Laet strode forward and unleashed a long-range shot which cannoned back off midfielder Jack Colback and the ball dropped kindly for Papiss Cisse, who fed Obertan on the left.
The winger, as he had done repeatedly during the game, exploited the space ahead of him at pace and cut inside before setting himself and blasting an unstoppable shot past keeper Kasper Schmeichel and into the bottom corner, his first goal for almost two years and just his third for the club.
Obertan's strike prompted a huge sigh of relief, but it took a determined rearguard action to hang on to the points as Tim Krul denied Danny Drinkwater and Steven Taylor blocked substitute Anthony Knockaert's last-ditch effort.
Obertan said: "It's great. I have been waiting for a while to score at St James'. It was a tough season for me last year. I'm glad I get to be back in the team and be useful.
"It was tough, but we persevered and we had the patience and it paid off. We worked really hard in training and it was a tough situation. It was great to get the three points and we get a breather for the next game."
Leicester boss Nigel Pearson was frustrated by defeat, but confident his promoted team will improve as the season goes on.
He said: "I am very pleased with the group of players I have got. I know that they are very disappointed with aspects of certain performances, but we have given, for the most part this season so far, a very good account of ourselves and I think we are very capable.
"We will get better, so that's just part and parcel of dealing with the demands of a league which requires quality on lots of different levels."
Source: PA
