Nick Pope makes dressing room claim and admits Newcastle United let themselves down


Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope has admitted the Magpies let themselves down in the 3-1 defeat to Fulham.

Pope and his team-mates bounced back with a battling performance against Manchester City to claim a creditable draw at St James' Park. The stopper was one of the stars of the game after keeping Bernardo Silva out with a top notch save in the second half.

Speaking about the poor show at Fulham, Pope said: "We definitely needed a performance as we really let ourselves down last week. "The next one always comes round quick in the Premier League, there’s never an easy one, but obviously this was one of the toughest tests in the world. I thought that we came through and looked much improved from last week."

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When asked if Newcastle were closing the gap on champions Man City, Pope felt this was a step in the right direction. Looking back on Saturday, Pope said: "They (Man City) are top, and they’ll be there for sure at the end of the season. You know that there will be a lot of different challenges when you play against them.

"Are we getting closer to them? I’d like to think so. We are building and come up against them every year and try to close the gap, that’s what everybody is trying to do if I’m being honest."

Newcastle will now look to keep up their unbeaten home record when League Two Wimbledon come to St James' Park tomorrow night in round three of the Carabao Cup.