Paul Wants Points On The Board

By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Paul Dummett wants Newcastle United to continue their recent resurgence at Liverpool this weekend to help them avoid a repeat of last season's nerve-shredding final day.

The Magpies are still two point adrift of Barclays Premier League safety going into Saturday's game (3pm kick-off) despite having beaten Swansea City 3-0 and drawn with reigning champions Manchester City 1-1 in their last two outings.

It took a 2-0 victory over West Ham on the last day of the 2014-15 campaign to ensure United's top flight status for another year.

But defender Dummett says it's vital that his side's charge for survival continues to pick up pace at Anfield, traditionally the venue for some classic encounters between the two teams in recent years.

"Playing at a place like Anfield is always nice. When you're coming out and they're singing You'll Never Walk Alone… I think if anyone doesn't get up for the game when that comes on, there'd be a problem," he told nufcTV.

"We're going there with positive minds and a good attitude to go and get the three points, that's our main focus.

"We want to get the points as early as possible - we don't want to be waiting right to the very end and the last game of the season like we did last season. We want to get it over and done with and get the points on the board as soon as possible."

The left back has had an eventful few outings against the Reds, having netted his first goal for the Club against the Merseyside giants back in October 2013.

In the reverse fixture that season, though, the 24-year-old was shown a straight red card - which was later overturned on appeal - for a challenge on Luis Suarez after coming on as a substitute at Anfield.

And Newcastle-born Dummett is hoping he'll come back to Tyneside with better memories after this weekend's clash.

"I think in my second game for Newcastle I scored at the Gallowgate End and it was a massive result then with ten men, to get the 2-2 draw," he recalled. "I came on for, I think it might have been four minutes in the away game, so I haven't really got good memories playing away from home.

"I need to change it this weekend by getting three points and playing the full game, hopefully - as long as I get picked, do nothing stupid on the pitch, be sensible and get the three points."

Spirits in the United camp have been raised by the four-point haul collected from the last two games.

"We've had two positive results last two games. Unfortunately we didn't get the win against Manchester City but the performance was really good, and we've given ourselves a good chance and a confidence boost going into the game against Liverpool," explained Dummett.

"I think (with) the way we played in those last two home games, the fans really responded and they backed us in both games, so we need to show that performance, commitment and desire to keep doing that every game. As long as we do that, I think we'll be ok and we'll win the games we need to win to stay in the Premier League.

"The win and the draw has definitely given us a confidence boost, and we know that we can play against anyone and beat anyone. We've give ourselves a lot of confidence and belief now that we can go and win games. I think when you're on a downward spiral losing games, the confidence of certain players does go and you need to build it back up. We have with the win and the draw, so we need to take that into the game with Liverpool."

After the visit of the Magpies, Jurgen Klopp's side travel to Villarreal for their Europa League semi-final first leg in midweek.

And Dummett, who is glad to have made his return from the hamstring injury that kept him out of action for a month, hopes United can take advantage if their opponents have one eye on that tie going into this weekend.

"I think it'll be at the back of their players' minds because every one of their players will be desperate to play. They won't want to get injured. I think the manager might be the same as well. He might be rotating the team and rotating players, so for us it can only be a positive that they have that game to look forward to," he said.

"On a personal level, it's always good to be playing. You never want to be injured - you want to play in every game you can.

"But it's for the team at the moment - it's not about me, or about anyone else, it's about the team being in it together because we don't want to be relegated. Newcastle doesn't belong in the Championship, so as a team we need to keep on working hard."

You can watch the full nufcTV interview with Paul Dummett here