Aaron Ramsdale signals his intentions after making first Premier League start for Newcastle United
Nick Pope missed out on Newcastle United's 4-1 win over Everton on Saturday after picking up an injury in training on Friday ... or so the story goes.
Eddie Howe was under pressure to drop Pope after a string of errors, and suddenly the decision was taken away from him at the 11th hour, thanks to an injury? Just like most of the tat on Facebook marketplace ... I ain't buying it.
Whatever the truth, Aaron Ramsdale, who joined the Magpies in the summer on loan from Southampton, made his first Premier League start for the Toon and had pretty much nothing to do for 90 minutes.
While he did concede two goals, one of which was rightly chalked off for handball, neither were shots he could have done anything about. He looked solid at the back, composed on the ball and passed out from the back well. It seemed to give the defenders in front of him an extra level of confidence.
Aaron Ramsdale is looking forward to many more Newcastle appearances
Taking to Instagram after the game, Aaron Ramsdale made his intentions clear that he wants to keep hold of that No. 1 shirt.
"250 career games.
"Hoping to add many more with this great football club soon ⚫️⚪️
"What a performance."
The official line is that Nick Pope injured his groin on Friday in training, and if that's true, then it's not going to be something he shakes off in time for Tuesday, but if he does, we think we have our answer on the validity of the injury.
Howe needs to keep Aaron Ramsdale in goal even if Nick Pope is fit
Even if Nick Pope has the healing powers of Wolverine and is fit for Tuesday, we hope that Eddie Howe sticks with Aaron Ramsdale.
We want to see what he can do in a game where he's actually needed. I mean, obviously, we'd prefer that our goalkeepers could pull out a deck chair and a cocktail and just soak up the sun during every game, but you know what I'm getting at.
It's too early to judge which is the better keeper, but we have our suspicions, and we want to see Rambo given a run to confirm it.
