Nick Pope
Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope believes doing the ‘ugly stuff’ well can take the Magpies far this season. Newcastle were second best during their 0-0 draw at Brighton, but Pope believes his team-mates showed ‘resilience’ and ‘spirit’ to come away with a point. The goalkeeper was in fine form for Newcastle as he continued his impressive start to life at St James’ Park. The 30-year-old made five saves to keep out Graham Potter’s side, including a sensational stop to deny an Adam Lallana header. Going forward, Newcastle struggled to muster too many meaningful chances, with a Dan Burn header the closest the Magpies came to scoring, while Brighton registered seven shots on target.
Nick Pope said: “We’re happy to come through it in the end. It’s a really tough place to come. We dug in, there were a couple of clearances off the line, blocks, tackles – we did the ugly stuff really well. When you’re not quite at your best, it’s vital to keep a clean sheet and take part in that ugly stuff. It can be really important over a season. Last week was probably a better team performance, but with this being a tough place to come, it was still a good performance. We just lacked the final touches on certain things and we were just off it in certain regards, whereas we were on it last week. It’s small margins in the Premier League between a good performance and an okay performance. To have the resilience and spirit to hold in and dig deep in those tough times – that’s what has got us a point.”
