Stalwart Dummett still waiting for deal
DEFENDER COULD HIT 200-GAME MARK FOR TOON TONIGHT AND WANTS TO STAY LONGER
PAUL Dummett says he wants to stay at Newcastle United but admits he still does not know whether his Magpies career will end on Sunday.
The long-serving defender’s contract expires at the end of the season and he is still waiting for clarity on his future.
The Wales international could make his 200th appearance for his boyhood club tonight and wants to make many more beyond that.
There is still an expectation that Dummett will extend his stay on Tyneside, with negotiations delayed by the club’s fight to avoid relegation.
Now with that sorted, Dummett hopes to round off a difficult season in style.
“Hopefully I’ll make my 200th appearance on Wednesday but I’m hoping to add as many more as I can,” he told NUFC TV.
“I’ve been at the club for a long time now, so hopefully I can extend my stay and keep on creeping up with those appearances and get many more.”
Of potentially becoming a doublecenturion for the Magpies, he added: “If you had told me as a young kid I’d be playing 200 games for Newcastle, I would have snapped your hand off.
“To hopefully do it on Wednesday night will be a great achievement for the family and me.
“It’s something I’ve worked really hard for and hopefully there will be many more to come in the future.”
Dummett has played 14 times in all competitions this season and will finish the campaign having made his lowest number of appearances for United since 2013.
The 29-year-old has played a valuable role in helping Newcastle away from the drop zone, filling in as a left-sided centre-back for most of his game time this season.
Blighted by Covid, played in empty stadia and toiling away just to survive, the Magpies have struggled and Dummett admitted this season has been a difficult one.
However, the defender insisted he knew United had the quality needed to stay in the Premier League.
He said: “It’s been difficult. We’ve been through tough spells, nervous spells where we were tipped for relegation and where we were written off many times – pundits saying the players and the team weren’t good enough – but we knew deep down with the players we’ve got in the squad that we were good enough to win games.
“The past few months have been really good, the past few games especially – to score three goals against Manchester City and to still get beat is a big statement for us.”
Newcastle lost 4-3 to the newly crowned Premier League champions last week but didn’t crumble in the face of a great side, and won plaudits from supporters for not rolling over.
It was an improved performance and a stark contrast to what fans were watching at the turn of the year when the Magpies went on a horrendous run of form.
When they lost to Brighton on March 20, United were tipped for the drop, and Dummett believes that 3-0 defeat actually inspired the players to prove their doubters wrong, with Newcastle losing only twice in the seven games since.
“The defeat to Brighton was probably the turning point,” he said. “We were written off after that game, it was a big game, a defining game, we were looked at as if we were getting relegated by those outside the club so we knew we had to stay strong, stick together as a team and fight.
“The last two months our performances have been really good and we’ve managed to pick up.
“Having players out with injury or Covid, the inconsistencies in the team, now we have a fully fit squad.
“Everyone fit fighting for places and that brings the best out of the team. We just want to win the next two games and finish the season on a high.”