Newcastle continued to rue their injury problems yesterday as they lost to Bournemouth to make it two defeats in the space of a few days.
The Magpies never got going against the Cherries and were punished as the home side eventually took their chances to pick up a big three points.
For Newcastle, it was a performance that hasn’t been regular under Eddie Howe and the Toon manager admitted after the game that his players simply ran out of steam a bit.
However, things could have been even worse for Newcastle had it not been for goalkeeper Nick Pope. The England stopper made a number of big saves to keep the score down and former Toon striker Les Ferdinand picked up on Pope’s performance.
Les Ferdinand praises ‘brilliant’ Nick Pope
Speaking about Bournemouth’s ability to make big chances in the game, Ferdinand commented on how Newcastle’s lack of centre-forward allowed the Cherries to dominate.
However, Ferdinand reserved a special mention for Pope, who he felt delivered for the Mags despite defeat.
Speaking on Sky Sports alongside Jamie Redknapp, former England and Newcastle powerhouse Ferdinand praised the stopper.
“Pope was brilliant for Newcastle today,” Ferdinand said.
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Pope has been an inspired signing by Newcastle and has been worth every penny of the £10m they paid for him.
With injuries obviously being a problem for the Mags, Pope’s influence at the back is going to be ever more important.
He will need displays like yesterday to ensure the Mags remain in the fight for the top four once again.
Of course, Eddie Howe will be wanting more from his outfield players. The injuries seem to have caused a big problem for the Toon at the moment and it was clear as day yesterday they lacked depth.
Newcastle will now look to January to see if they can bring anyone in to help.
However, with Pope in goal, they at least have one position firmly sorted for the forseeable.