Jenas gives praise to mum

Jenas is currently in outstanding form for The Magpies, having netted the club's winner against Tottenham last month, and is on the verge of a place in the England set-up.

Newcastle forked out £5 million to land the ace from Nottingham Forest last year, but in that short space of time the midfielder has turned into one of the stars of the Premiership.

"The way I am is probably down to my mum," said Jenas. "She was a single parent who had to work as well as look after me and my older sister.

"There would be times when I was at home, either on my own or with my sister, when we might have to cook for ourselves, but it makes you grow up quicker and I think my mum for that.

"You develop a certain mentality, and ability to look after yourself. I still had a great childhood, but it was one that also had a lot of benefits."

Jenas also revealed that he has a great relationship with manager Sir Bobby Robson, of whom they share the same birthday, as they both have good footballing brains.

"When you have some common ground, something to talk about, it makes it easy to get along," added Jenas.

"The only real difference is the amount of football knowledge the manager possesses, but then the beauty of that is how well he passes it on to players like me.

"He might be 70 soon, but he can still communicate with his players. It is why he is so successful."