Newcastle manager Bobby Robson was clearly delighted after his side's Intertoto success against Sporting Lokeren in Belgium. “I'm very happy with the victory and I think we won it convincingly despite having only 10 days of preparation,” Robson said.
“Despite missing a lot of regulars we played a very good game. We pressurised them well and we fought for the whole 90 minutes. The Belgians started well but perhaps they were a little scared of us. In the first half we played our best football and Bellamy and Ameobi were outstanding,” Robson added.
Aware that England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was watching in the stands Robson gave particular praise to Shola Ameobi, who he sees as an England striker of the future. “I'm very glad Eriksson was here to see some of our players and I think Ameobi especially has played himself into the picture.”
Lokeren coach Paul Put was less enthusiastic about his side's display. “Too often we put ourselves in trouble because I never intended to play with the offside trap,” he said. “However, the players decided to play that system and it did not work very well and cost us a couple of goals.”
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
