Dummett staying positive despite late leveller

The Magpies looked on course for a third away victory of the season after Salomón Rondón buried a fine Matt Ritchie cross, only for substitute Abdoulaye Doucouré to salvage a point for Watford with a header of his own eight minutes from time.

United were much improved from their last two outings – a dour stalemate at home to Fulham a week ago, and a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool on Boxing Day – though their cushion over the Premier League’s bottom three was reduced to four points after the Cottagers struck late to beat Huddersfield Town.

And, though a touch deflated that the Magpies lost their lead so late in the day, Dummett was keen to remain optimistic as his – and his teammates’ – attention shifts to Wednesday’s visit of Manchester United.

“After leading for so much of the game, working hard as a team and defending well, for them to score in the 82^nd minute is really disappointing,” he told nufc.co.uk. “The manager said before that every game is a cup final – we wanted three points, but every point we take is another point on the board.

“They had a lot of the ball in the first half before we scored our goal. They had a lot of possession in the second half, as well, but they didn’t really cause us much of a threat until their man got free in the box and they scored. It’s disappointing not to hold out and pick up the three points, but we have to be positive and move on to the next game.

“Last season, we beat Manchester United and went on a bit of a run after that, and hopefully we can achieve the same as that this season. They’ve got a new manager and they’ve won a few games, so their confidence will be high coming to play against us. But, I think Manchester United have always found it hard playing at St. James’ Park against us. We’ll be doing our best to try and take points off them – hopefully three – and hopefully kick on the same as we did last season.”

On a personal level, Saturday’s clash was a memorable one for Dummett, with the boyhood United supporter racking up his 100^th Premier League appearance for the club.

“When I think I got told at 21 I’d never play in the Premier League, 100 games is a massive achievement,” he said. “To do that for Newcastle – the team I’ve supported all my life – it makes it even better. Hopefully there’s 100 more for me for Newcastle. But it’s not just about me and my appearances, it’s about the club doing well as a whole, and I just have to carry on going.”