FIT-AGAIN Steve Harper is happy to take a back seat between now and the end of the season as Alan Pardew bids to solve his Newcastle goalkeeping dilemma.
Harper returned to training on Tuesday and is fit to play at Anfield but with Pardew eager to take a closer look at Tim Krul over the next four games, the long-serving ‘keeper is not anticipating an immediate recall.
Next season Newcastle will be in the envious position of having three excellent stoppers competing for one spot but Pardew wants to pare that down to just two by the start of next season.
And with Fraser Forster performing so well at Celtic, the United boss wants to give Krul an extended run to see how he copes with the rigours of regular Premier League football.
For Harper – still the undisputed number one at St James’ Park – that is an understandable approach.
“We’re virtually safe now and I had a chat with the manager last week. Tim (Krul) has done well in the last couple of games so the manager hinted he would like to take a look at Tim for the last few games,” he said. “I have no problems with that. He has deserved it. The manager already knows what I can do so it’s a good opportunity for Tim from now until the end of the season.
“I’m sure Tim will have learned a lot from the spell he had earlier in the season and hopefully we’ll see the benefits of it in these last few games.”
While Krul looks set to get the nod for these final few games, Harper retains the confidence of the Newcastle manager going forward.
Having hardly put a foot wrong in United’s first season back in the Premier League, that keeper’s jersey is still his to lose but Harper knows the advances of Forster and Krul mean he cannot afford to be complacent. “They are snapping at my heels and getting closer all the time,” he said.
“I know being number one won’t last forever. It’s up to me to retain that position.
“Every pre-season when I have come back the manager has brought us in as goalkeepers and said ‘We start the season with a clean slate’.
“I’m sure it will the same this season.”
Although aware that he faces a fight from below, Harper has no qualms about recognising the advances of his younger colleagues.
Speaking to lend support to Bob Wilson’s 560-mile charity cycle ride in aid of the Willow Foundation for terminally ill young people, the goalkeeper admitted both Forster and Krul were getting better with age.
“Fraser has really benefited from what he did at Norwich last season and is doing very well up at Celtic as well,” he said.
