Shropshire Star

Karl Darlow: Point at West Brom shows Newcastle’s fighting spirit

The Magpies clawed their way back from 2-0 behind at the Hawthorns

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Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow has praised the Magpies’ powers of recovery after their point at West Brom.

Jonny Evans’ late own goal earned the visitors a 2-2 draw after Ciaran Clark had started a second half fightback from 2-0 down.

Newcastle had fallen behind after Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Field put Albion, who have now appointed former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew as their new head coach, in control.

But Evans deflected Matt Ritchie’s free-kick into his own net with seven minutes left to take the Magpies five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone after they ended a four-match losing run.

“It’s a big point and it keeps us going,” Darlow told nufc.co.uk. “At 2-0 down away from home, the lads showed fight and courage to come back and play such good football, get the point and we could have nicked it right at the end.

“Ciaran’s goal was massive. It changed the game – after conceding the second, we quietened the crowd straight away. It was an important goal and we went from strength to strength after that.

“It was disappointing to go in 1-0 down (at the break). When we’re level, I think we need to make sure we’re like that when we get to half time – we need to make sure we’re concentrated and we’re doing everything we can to keep the ball out the back of the net. But, credit to the lads – they battled back and we got the point.”

It was Darlow’s first Premier League appearance of the season and only his second game with Rob Elliot preferred in goal so far but the 27-year-old insisted he was ready.

“The manager rotates quite often, so you have to be ready each week and I’m just pleased to be back and playing for Newcastle,” he said.

“I was happy. I knew I needed to manage myself through my first game back after not playing for a while, but I felt good. I felt like I did alright, so we’ll see what kind of team he picks on Saturday (at Chelsea).”

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