GARY O'Neil heaped praised on Marcos Senesi for the way he handled his return to the Cherries side.

Summer signing Senesi had not featured under interim boss O'Neil, last playing in the 9-0 humbling at Liverpool.

His only other Premier League appearances come in 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal respectively, remaining as an unused substitute on the other two occasions.

But, with Lloyd Kelly a late withdrawal due to an ankle injury, Senesi was called upon to partner Chris Mepham in a back four as Cherries headed to Newcastle United.

And, aside from a couple of shaky moments, the 25-year-old equipped himself well, as Cherries stood firm to earn a creditable 1-1 draw.

Asked how he felt the Argentina international, who arrived at Cherries for a reported £12.6million from Feyenoord, fared against the Magpies, O'Neil said: "I thought he did really well.

"It was a big ask for him, obviously coming in probably unexpectedly for him, because of the injury to Lloydy.

"I’m not sure if he would have faced anything quite like that in his playing career so far.

"But he’s a good player. He has real good pedigree.

"He was part of why we managed to control the ball in moments, because he’s very comfortable with the ball.

"But to come here and stand up physically like he did against a real physical side was really big."