Take heart from loss – Shay

Mar 8 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

THEY have not won a league game since December 15, but Shay Given believes his Newcastle United team should travel to Champions League-chasing Liverpool today full of confidence after their performance at the weekend.

The Magpies played well against Blackburn Rovers last Saturday but lost 1-0, extending a run that has seen them beat only Championship side Stoke City since Joey Barton’s injury-time penalty at Fulham. Given, who will miss this afternoon’s game with a groin injury thinks United should take heart from a performance which saw them create a string of chances, only to miss all of them.

“They scored so late on and the way we played we were all very frustrated because we felt we should have got a draw,” admitted Given, who watched from the stands as Matt Derbyshire scored the game’s only goal in its 90th minute.

“But the thing for me is it’s important we keep the belief and the confidence and the positives from Saturday and take it into Liverpool, Birmingham and the games coming up.”

With the team yet to win during Kevin Keegan’s second spell as manager, Given admits morale is not as it should be. “It’s not ideal because we haven’t won for a while but wins breed confidence,” he said. “I don’t think confidence is that low, especially after the Blackburn game.

“It would have been more worrying had we not played so well against Blackburn and lost, but there were a lot of plusses to take out of the game. I thought we played very, very well so we’ve got to keep the belief and roll on to the next game, that’s the most important one.”

Given’s persistent groin problem has given another opportunity to deputy Steve Harper and the Republic of Ireland international is impressed with the way arguably the Premier League’s best number two goalkeeper performed in his absence. “He did really well at the weekend, which is a shame because he didn’t keep a clean sheet,” Given said.