Championship leaders Newcastle United fell to a surprise defeat against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend. The Magpies have been left with only a few days to recover from the slump as they will face Hull City in the EFL Cup on November 29.
Despite the stunning loss at St James' Park, goalkeeper Karl Darlow is confident in a comeback, he told the Mirror: “We haven’t had to bounce back too often this season, but we have to prove we can do that now.” He added, “It’s good to have the cup game so close."
A busy period
It is not just the EFL Cup that Newcastle have to keep on their radar, Darlow said, “We’ve got three games this week, so we know we’ve got to brush this off pretty quickly and get on with things. "
When quizzed specifically about the cup game, the 26-year-old said: “Getting this far in the cup means we’re going to be kept busy, and that’s fantastic for the club. We need to concentrate on that now and try to get through to the next round, then it’s Forest on Friday."
Darlow explained, “It’s a big week coming up, and we need to put this behind us and get on with it now" he added, keen to put the negative result to bed."
Before the loss to the team now in 20th place, the Toon had not lost in nine league games. The game was also the first in 12 that Newcastle failed to score in. The 'keeper weighed in on the feeling after the game, saying “to lose this game, particularly at home, was very disappointing".
Darlow determined to get back to winning ways
He is now keen to kick on and get back to form, "But now we need to make sure we stay at the top of the league and carry on putting some good performances in. If we do that, we can pick up and really get going again.” Many fans have referred to the game as a gamble that did not pay off, but are not too stressed by the off-day.
Darlow feels similarly but is reluctant to take anything away from the player's work ethic, he said: “I don’t think you could criticise a lack of effort or anything like that – it was just one of those days when nothing really clicked. We didn’t create too many chances, which was obviously disappointing."
He concluded, “There haven’t been many teams who have stopped us from scoring this season, but they managed to do that and it was too easy for them really.”
Newcastle United still sit on the top of the table with 40 points from 18 games, narrowly behind them are Brighton with 38, so it is vital that the Mags pick themselves up quickly for the cup and league game coming up.
The last time they were beat in the league it was a home 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, they then went on to beat that same team in the league cup.