Carver: Gutierrez return lifted St James' Park

The Argentinean was introduced in the second half of Wednesday's Premier League defeat to Manchester United - making his first outing since April 2014 after overcoming the illness.

While Carver's side were undone by a late Ashley Young winner, the Newcastle boss felt Gutierrez's return was a special moment for the home crowd.

"Maybe I should have started him because all of a sudden the crowd came alive, but it was great," Carver explained.

"Jonas has worked extremely hard behind the scenes. He has worked in the gym tirelessly hard.

"Coming back from what he has came back from and having the opportunity to get on the pitch.

"It just shows how much the fans think of him because the roof nearly came off the stadium, which was nice."