Newcastle 1 QPR 0: Ryan Taylor reveals he has suffered 'no major problem' after going off injured after 32 minutes

Taylor left the field in tears but should only be out for a short time

Joey Barton and Richard Dunne of QPR console Newcastle's Ryan Taylor (Getty Images)

The news came late on Saturday; that Ryan Taylor still had a career. It felt that significant. The 30-year-old had walked off the St James' Park a broken man. After 32 months fighting two potentially career ending knee injuries, he had lasted just 32 minutes. He left in tears.

A football stadium was filled with sympathetic looks and knowing nods. Perhaps that was it. Alan Pardew kept his counsel and his fingers crossed. He has done well by the player.

Late on Saturday night an MRI scan showed that there was a slight strain to the ligament. The diagnosis was to take a five week rest. In the context of 32 months and taking a dead man's patellar tendon to even kick a ball, it did not seem quite so bad. There was relief even.

Taylor took to twitter. "Just to let you know I have no major problem an (sic) I had to come off today just to be on the safe side. I was just gutted to come off that's why I got so emotional as I've worked so hard to get back."

Five weeks. Five wins on the trot in the Premier League. Fifth in the table. Five weeks since chaos reigned in Newcastle. Five indeed was the magic number for Newcastle after Moussa Sissoko gave them victory against Queens Park Rangers.

"I could see the players were upset when Ryan went off, so I deliberately didn't mention him at half time," said Pardew. "It was something we had to park. It certainly did effect our mentality for a few minutes after. You could see us lose momentum. It is testimony to the players that we came out and performed that little bit quicker, for the second half.

"He showed what an asset he can be on the pitch. I actually thought from that first half an hour if we were going to win Ryan would be at the heart of it. The two best chances early on fell to him."

Taylor's loss - thankfully now looking a short term one - was also the game's. Momentum went with him. Queens Park Rangers looked more likely to eke out an ugly, albeit priceless, point when he was not on the field.

That lasted until 12 minutes remained, when Sissoko's sheer power and will forced a late winner. Sissoko has grown into the role vacated by Yohan Cabaye. He is not the same, nowhere near as subtle, but his power at times is difficult to curtail.

"Moussa has been fantastic and he is a pleasure to play with," said Jack Colback. "He can do everything as a midfielder. If he is struggling in the defensive half he just wriggles out and gets you up the the edge of the box with his power and pace. That is the type of player that you want at a club like this. He has got a lot of quality but that is true of the whole team. Hopefully this is just the start of things to come.

"We were not fantastic but with the spirit around the place we always believe that at the very least we are not going to get beaten. That is a massive thing and we maybe didn't have it at the start of the season.

"Everyone is pulling in the right direction and knows their role. There have been a lot of players come in because of injury and they have all done fantastically well. We are getting our rewards for that now. It is nice to give something back for the fans. This is a big club with big expectations and we should be up there challenging within the top eight."

Rangers fell to the foot of the Premier League in defeat, They are a slow team. "When you play away from home, I think you need a bit of pace on the break," said Harry Redknapp. "We're not a team that's overly blessed with it."