Steve Harper backs under-fire Martin Dubravka to recover

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Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper has had his say on Martin Dubravka’s mistake against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.

The former stopper, who represented the Toon Army for 20 years, reckons the Slovakian international was merely trying to demonstrate good leadership qualities by trying to claim the ball, and that he was unlucky not to have been awarded a foul under the challenge of Willy Boly.

Dubravka’s error cost the visitors two precious points at Molineux, and it was his second mistake in as many games after he allowed Heung-min Son’s long range effort to fly past him against Tottenham Hotspur.

It’s his first difficult period at the club following a brilliant first year, but Harper believes he can easily come through the sticky patch.

‘He’s made very few mistakes’

He said, as quoted by Chronicle Live: “He is an experienced international whose debut came against Manchester United in front of 52,000 and he performed the way he did. Are you really worried that he can’t handle what has happened in the last two weeks?

“Let’s not get away from the fact he’s a very, very good goalkeeper and what a fantastic buy he has been. He’s been here a year and made very few mistakes and he has been unfortunate that he has had a couple of difficult situations in the last two game.

“He has a really good support network with Simon [Smith], who has been there, seen it and done it as a goalkeeping coach and will know how to support him.”

It’s a good offer of persepctive from Harper. Dubravka has been Newcastle’s standout player since his arrival on loan last year.

He’s going through a tough moment, but he has the experience to come through it, and he could potentially help keep Newcastle up for the second straight season.