Dubravka refuses to lose heart despite Toon slump

MARTIN DUBRAVKA insists it’s not panic stations yet after Newcastle matched a

120-year club record by failing to win any of their first

10 games of the season.

With just three points from those matches, the writing is already on the wall for second-from-bottom Newcastle, who are on course for a third relegation in a decade.

Boss Rafa Benitez must wait at least another nine more weeks – with another 30 points at stake – to summon reinforcements in the January transfer window. It may be too late by then.

But goalkeeper Dubravka said: “I am one of the oldest players in the dressing room, and I have been trying to explain to everyone that we still have a lot of games in front of us and we can still take points.

Feeble

“I don’t think it’s a time to panic because it’s still the beginning of the season and the most important thing is to fight for every point every time we go out on the pitch.

“We know it could be better, and we could be in a better position with more points, but the games we’ve played are in the past now. We have to look to the future.

“We had some tough games in the early fixtures, but that is not an excuse. We could have taken more points.”

As an attacking force at St Mary’s, Newcastle were feeble.

And they would have lost if Saints sub Shane Long – two goals in 64 appearances for club and country – had not squandered a golden chance to win it in the last minute.

Benitez is not blameless for this mess. At face value, his decision to swap Dwight Gayle (eight goals in 14 games for West Brom) for Salomon Rondon (one goal in the League Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest) looks a dud.

And when the chips are down, you wouldn’t follow winger Kenedy into battle.