With so many players having to deal with injuries this season, Eddie Howe has been particularly impressed by one Newcastle United player who has stepped up lately.
There was a huge worry that Newcastle wouldn’t be able to cope without Nick Pope who sustained a serious injury early in December, but Martin Dubravka has put in some solid performances as of late.
In his interview after the defeat to Manchester City, Howe shared how pleased he was for the shot-stopper who has really stepped up in recent games despite not getting the results he wants.
Howe says Dubravka has ‘shown his class’ for Newcastle
Dubravka won’t have expected to have been playing this many key minutes for Newcastle this season after it was made clear that he didn’t have much of a future at the club with the arrival of Pope.
But having gotten off to a rocky start in December, the Slovakian has really come into his own and is starting to once again show the form that was so key to keeping Newcastle in the Premier League.
Stats sometimes don’t show the full picture and this is definitely the case with the last few games in which Newcastle have conceded four against Liverpool and three against City, but in both games Dubravka proved to be a brilliant shot-stopper.
Even against Sunderland in a dominant 3-0 win, the £4m goalkeeper had to be on his toes and showed great reactions to save a deflected shot that could’ve made it 2-1 and completely changed the game.
After the game, Howe said: “He was busy today. I think he performed very well made some really good saves for us.
“I’ve been really pleased with how he’s done since he’s come into the team albeit in a difficult moment for us. I think he’s shown his class and his experience so I’m really pleased for him.”
Newcastle may no longer be in the market for a new keeper
There were rumours floating about that signing a new goalkeeper was crucial for Newcastle and Howe given Dubravka’s poor performances and Pope being unlikely to play again until late on in the season at the earliest.
Names like David de Gea, who is still available on a free, had been mentioned as Howe looked to sure up his defence in hopes of climbing the table once again.
However, given the limited budget that Newcastle already have, it’s difficult to see a new goalkeeper being a priority for Howe after Dubravka’s latest performances.
The experienced shot-stopper should be good enough to see out the rest of the season and hopefully for Howe continue these impressive displays to help Newcastle get back into Europe.
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