PL boss hails Newcastle ace after midweek display
By Harvey Byrne
Former Newcastle United boss and current Brighton manager Chris Hughton has hailed current Magpies loanee Tim Krul as “very assured” after he made his debut in Tuesday’s EFL Cup defeat.
The Seagulls made the short trip across the south coast for the second time in a matter of days as they faced Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium in the League Cup third round.
Krul started the match in goal and he managed to keep a clean sheet over 90 minutes with a strike from Josh King in extra time the only effort to beat the Dutch stopper in his side’s 1-0 defeat.
It marked the 29-year-old’s first competitive outing since May with AZ Alkmaar and he didn’t look out of place as Hughton told that Krul looked “very good and very assured” after the match.
“I felt he was very good and very assured. Some of the saves that he made weren’t very difficult, but he needed to show good hands. Overall, it was a very assured performance,” told Hughton, as quoted by the official Brighton website.
“Niki [Maenpaa] was very unfortunate to miss out. I had a tough decision to make and I went with Tim [Krul] because he was the one that needed the game.”
Krul joined Brighton on the summer’s deadline day in a season-long loan deal, reuniting with Hughton on the south coast.
The pair had previously worked together at Newcastle between 2008 and 2010 with the eight-time capped Holland international having gone into his 12th year at the north east giants.
However, his last appearance for the Magpies came in March 2015 and with his contract set to run out next summer it looks as though his time at the club may be running out.
In other Newcastle United news, a Premier League side sent their talent spotter to watch this sought-after Magpies hotshot at the weekend.
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