Martin Dubravka has suggested that he found out that he was going to make his Newcastle United debut just two hours before kick-off.
Amongst the main talking points to emerge from Newcastle’s win over Manchester United at the weekend, the performance of Martin Dubravka on his Magpies debut was definitely up there as the most notable.
The Slovakian was one of Rafa Benitez’s January signings, and he certainly had a point to prove with Newcastle already boasting a decent collection of goalkeepers. But in the win over Jose Mourinho’s side, he definitely proved that point.
The stopper was fantastic in the win as Newcastle secured a win that took them out of the relegation zone after briefly falling into the bottom three earlier in the day thanks to Huddersfield’s win over Bournemouth.
And what arguably makes the 29-year-old’s display all the more impressive is the fact that he has admitted, in comments reported by the Chronicle, that he was only informed that he was playing on the day of the game.
“Actually, two hours before the game. I didn’t know that I would play,” Dubravka said, as reported by the Chronicle. “It was an amazing feeling for me, because we won against a very strong team. I’m very happy that we won as a team. We worked hard in training. We tried to do our best.
“It was very important for me. When you are in a new club and trying to do your best and show people that you deserve to be here, it’s very important.”
The uncertainty surrounding whether he would play or not could surely have not helped his preparation for the day, and yet he still managed to produce a performance that was so good that it surely has to go down as one of the best Magpies debuts for a long time.
It is almost a fortnight until Newcastle return to action as they travel to Bournemouth looking to put more distance between themselves and the bottom three in the Premier League.
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