No point lingering on mistakes, says keeper Dubravka

PLAYERS HAVE MOVED ON AFTER WOLVES’ LATE GOAL

Chief Newcastle writer MARTIN Dubravka has revealed a post-game inquest on Newcastle United’s flight from East Midlands Airport to Alicante was not needed after his side’s late agony at Molineux.

The Slovakian has given his side of the story after Willy Boly’s controversial stoppage-time equaliser against Wolves.

However, there has been a lot of water under the bridge since Monday night.

Players looked at replays together and came to the instant conclusion they had been hard done by after referee Graham Scott missed a clear foul.

Jamaal Lascelles immediately apologised for his outburst to Dubravka and the squad agreed to move on as soon as they boarded the flight to Spain.

Dubravka was also prepared to tackle the subject head on and sat down with journalists at the team hotel, shaking the hand of each one of them.

Dubravka said: “No, there was no inquest. There was frustration, that is normal.

“Afterwards we watched the clips and we decided there was no point in letting it linger and criticising each other.

“From my angle it was definitely a free-kick. It was a foul. I know the trajectory of the ball and I could catch the ball.

“Then suddenly I had a hand there, I was blinded as I could not see the ball. I fell down on my back. I was really surprised because I did not know who grabbed me from behind.

“Whether it was my player or their striker. I could then only see the reaction of their players celebrating.

“That would have made things worse but reaction from everyone was good.”

The stopper also reflected: “It was just disappointing.

“We knew we could have taken three points but we also knew we did well.

“We controlled the game. They had a few opportunities to score but we had chances ourselves.

“It was the 94th minute and we were so close to taking three points against a quality team.

“They took three points against us at St James’ Park.

“We went for revenge but unfortunately in the last minute we conceded.”

Dubravka has been in fine spirits in Spain and is philosophical about the situation, adding: “I am a human being, I can make mistakes.

“I try not to make mistakes but it is not about making them in the first place, it is about how you react.

“When you are down that is when you see who your real friends are.

“Everybody has something to say and it is easy to criticise but I am very lucky I have great people around me, great team-mates and they support me through everything.

“That is very important psychologically. It is so tough being a goalkeeper.

“When I made a mistake against Tottenham, that is the goal and everyone talks about it but if a striker or a midfielder makes a mistake there are still people behind to stop the other team from scoring. That is the life of a goalkeeper.”

Now things must move on, though, starting with a friendly with CSKA Moscow. Dubravka said: “I prefer to play the next game as quickly as possible.

“The next one is always the most important.

“The last game was not perfect because we could probably take three points but we are here and we are playing a quality team.”

Newcastle will check out of their hotel today in La Finca before flying home straight after the game.

Dubravka feels it has already been a successful trip.

He added: “We know the hotel and the staff here, the food is great.

“We have spent nights together and it is what we need - to get to know each other even more.

“Sometimes you can watch too much football but we have done other things.

“We have played ludo and table tennis together. Matt Ritchie is always wanting to play Paul Dummett! It has been good.”