NEWCASTLE boss Steve Bruce believes the St Mary’s crowd can’t complain about the decisions that went against them.

Moussa Djenepo was sent off and the Magpies were later awarded a penalty, which was saved by Alex McCarthy, after a Sofiane Boufal handball.

Saints’ fans made their feelings towards the referee known but Bruce reckons the decisions were the right ones.

He said: "The whole thing will revolve around VAR.

"For me, the ref saw the monitor, and when you see the challenge it's a red card, and when you see the penalty - it's a penalty.

"The decisions, even though the thousands here have gone home frustrated, were right and correct.

"That is what VAR is for. We have had one or two go against us ourselves.

"But ultimately when they are the right decision you don't have an argument.

"The borderline decisions are the ones you can complain about.

"It was a blatant red card and blatant penalty."

Bruce is also certain that Allan Saint-Maximin has a “bright future” after his late strike sunk Saints at St Mary’s.

The Magpies had failed to score in their last four top-flight outings and the pressure was increased after Matt Ritchie missed a penalty in the first half.

But Saint-Maximin’s 79th-minute winner ended that goal drought as Newcastle moved eight points clear of the drop zone.

And Bruce is confident there is much more to come from the French forward.

“I’m delighted for him, I’ve said since day one he’s always going to please everybody,” Bruce said.

“If you haven’t seen him play then you’re going to enjoy watching him because he is a natural footballer, which don’t come around too often like that.

“He’s got frightening pace and great balance and got that thing where he wants to beat you and we don’t see that too often anymore.

“It can be a bit frustrating at times and he has to learn, but if he learns he’s got a big, bright future ahead of him.”

Bruce conceded that his side have been struggling in front of goal but was pleased with the manner in which they adapted to the challenge at St Mary’s.

“We haven’t encountered that before, a team dropping off us and letting us have possession of the ball,” he added.

“And then we have to create and that’s the hardest part of what we’ve found all year - creating a chance and taking the chance has been our Achilles heel.

“That’s why we’ve only scored 25 goals, but we couldn’t have asked for any more opportunities in the first half.”