Chance missed ‘to rebuild Toon confidence’
MATCH of the Day pundits Dion Dublin and Matthew Upson felt Newcastle missed a golden opportunity to build confidence in Saturday’s draw with Blackburn.
Newcastle were held to a 1-1 draw by the Championship side in the FA Cup third round, as Matt Ritchie’s late penalty cancelled out Bradley Dack’s opener at St James’ Park.
Ritchie’s first goal of the season spared Newcastle’s blushes and earned a replay at Ewood Park next week.
Rafa Benitez made eight changes to the starting XI which was beaten by Manchester United on Wednesday as youngsters Freddie Woodman, Jamie Sterry and Sean Longstaff were brought in to the side.
Florian Lejeune also made his return to the side following a serious knee injury.
However, with the Magpies in poor league form, Dublin and Upson felt as if Newcastle missed a chance of building much-needed confidence by not playing their strongest side against Rovers.
Former England defender Upson said: “You look at Newcastle - a team which is low on confidence, needs to win, needs a good performance and need to give their fans something.
“Get a team out there, win the match, get the club lifted and the confidence going.”
Former Manchester United and Aston Villa forward Dublin agreed, adding: “It was their chance.
“It is one win in eight now and they could have put a really strong side out and say ‘right, let’s get through the next round, get over this hurdle, get a win under our belts, get the feeling right and we can bring that in to the league.’”
United travel to Ewood Park on Tuesday, January 15 for their third-round replay and will learn their potential fourth-round opponents during this evening’s draw.