Eddie Howe 'very pleased' amid Newcastle United personal terms agreed claim

The Magpies have won all four matches since Dubravka came back into the side in place of the injured Nick Pope. The Slovakian has kept three consecutive clean sheets and faced just seven shots at goal.

His impressive form comes at a time when his future is uncertain. Sources in the Middle East claim the 35-year-old, who is out-of-contract in the summer, has agreed to join Al Shabab next month.

Howe hasn’t ruled out an exit but won’t be sanctioning a move while Pope is injured. Dubravka will start against Manchester United tonight, the club he made two appearances on loan at during the first half of the 2022-23 campaign.

“Very pleased with Martin,” Howe said during his pre-match press conference. “It's never easy for a goalkeeper to come into the side in any situation when you haven't played for a while because it's about rhythm and confidence and Martin has picked that up from minute one.

“He's distributed the ball really well which has been a huge thing in his game that has always been there. I think back to Aston Villa and a number of aerial claims that he made under pressure, he's dealt with that aspect really well too.

“He's low maintenance which is great from my perspective because he's not someone who needs a massive amount of contact time from me. He works really hard with the goalkeeper coaches in his training, Adam [Bartlett] and Shwan [Jalal] care about all the goalkeepers that they have and of course, they have to prioritise the work with the goalkeeper that is playing but I see Martin at his maximum level every day.

“Because of that training and attitude, when he does come into the team, you can hit the ground running as he has.”

Dubravka joined the Magpies in January 2018, initially on loan from Sparta Prague, before completing a permanent move the following summer after helping to keep the club in the Premier League.

For the next four seasons, Dubravka established himself as Newcastle’s No.1, however has been second choice since Pope arrived from Burnley two and a half years ago.