Blackburn Rovers beat Newcastle 5-2 this weekend. What happened?

I don’t know…maybe the international players were tired after the qualifying matches. We began very badly by conceding two goals in the first ten minutes and had to really slog to get back on level terms. We managed to do it though and that’s the annoying thing…we found what was needed to equalise then let in three goals in the last half an hour. Now we must quickly forget about this match. We’ve got an important game on Wednesday in the Champions League against Juventus and we must get back on track.

So this heavy defeat is not too much of a blow to morale?

It’s really annoying to concede five goals, especially as we went to Blackburn looking for a win. But what can one do about it now? It’s no good going over and over what happened at the weekend. We must look towards the Juventus game and show that we’re capable of making our presence felt against one of the best teams in Europe.

How did you fare personally against Blackburn?

It was tough as we had to defend for much of the time. I provided the ball for Shearer’s second goal though, took a few free-kicks, but all in all I didn’t get a lot of chances. All I know is that I gave my all.

All the same, you’re yet to get off the mark this year…

That’s right, I still haven’t found the way to goal. I could have done this weekend from my free-kicks but success wasn’t with me. But I’m not despairing. There’s a game against Juventus at St. James’ Park in two days time and I really hope to be at my best.

You’re up against one of the big guns in this first phase of the Champions League but quite simply, to have any hope of finishing at least third in your group, you must win.

Exactly. If we want to do anything in this Champions League campaign we have to make the most of our home games. To do this we must play as a unit and break away. If we don’t concede, I’m sure that we’ll get the breakthrough sooner or later.

So right from the start you’ll have to attack whilst being careful not to let anything slip.

Yes, it’s the Champions League. It’s the highest standard and you can’t make the slightest error. We’re playing in front of our fans who’ll give us a great help and we’ll have to get on top right away. The team which wants it most will win.

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