Krul Wants To Come Back Better Than Ever

By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Tim Krul expects to be fit for the start of pre-season after undergoing an operation on his dislocated shoulder - and is aiming to come back "better than ever" for the new campaign.

Newcastle's number one landed awkwardly in last month's Tyne-Wear derby derby against Sunderland, with Rob Elliot coming in for the last four games before his sending off at Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Steve Harper will play in the final match of the season against Arsenal on Sunday and, with Elliot suspended, young Jak Alnwick is likely to be named on the bench. However, Krul is now on the road to recovery and gave nufc.co.uk an exclusive update on his progress. 

"I've had the operation and it went well but unfortunately it does mean I'm going to be out for three months," he told the Club's official website.

"That's my season over, of course, and it's just been one of those seasons for me - I've had a couple of injuries which have interrupted it and that's been a new experience for me.

"It's hard because I'm not the best at having to watch the lads, especially in the position we found ourselves in, but hopefully I should be back for the first week of pre-season.

"Obviously there's never a good time to get injured but I guess it could have been worse as I will have the whole summer to recover."

The Holland international is likely to miss out on representing his country during the close season, with friendlies against Indonesia and China scheduled for next month.

Krul, who had hoped to add to his five caps, said: "There are a couple of games out in the Far East which I'll probably now miss, but I'm just concentrating on getting fit for Newcastle now.

"My aim is to come back better than ever for next season and to have another season like last year, when I didn't miss a single game in the Premier League."

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