Dyer wants to erase Nou Camp nightmare

KIERON DYER has vowed to make amends for his Barcelona nightmare by helping to fire Newcastle United into the Champions League quarter-finals.

The 24-year-old midfielder will return to the starting line-up tonight for the latest fixture to claim the status of his club's most important in recent history, determined to erase the memory of his moment of madness at the Nou Camp in December.

Striker Shola Ameobi, in the absence of suspended duo Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy, had dragged his side back into the game after a bad start.

At 2-1 Dyer, as he defended the far post for a Barca corner, somehow managed to let Thiago Motta's header sail past him and into the net.

It is an incident which still causes him pain and embarrassment, and he admits he has been waiting for a chance to put things right ever since.

"Why this game is so important to me is that I let the manager down, I let my team-mates and I let the fans down at Barcelona for the third goal," he said.

"We were 2-1 down and we could have still got back into the game because Shola was a handful, and then there was my famous mistake on the corner and they scored and effectively killed the game.

"I can remember coming out of the stadium and, because it happened so quickly, someone asked me about the goal and I thought it was just one of those things, and I was trying to defend myself.

"Then obviously when you see the replays on television, as I said, I did let everyone down associated with Newcastle United.

"Of all the Champions League games as they've been coming along, I was always looking forward to this one because I want to produce a big performance to basically redeem myself for what was a crucial mistake at a crucial time in the game."

Dyer is not the only man who has something to prove against Barca, with Bellamy determined to put the disciplinary problems which have robbed him of six Champions League games firmly behind him.

"Last season more than any other player, Craig Bellamy was probably our best player," said Dyer.

"He did more than anyone to get us into the Champions League.

"For whatever reasons this season, he hasn't played too much Champions League football, and the Champions League football he has played has been exceptional."

Newcastle go into the game knowing that they must beat the Catalan side who have not lost in 13 European outings so far this season despite lying only ninth in La Liga and hope that Inter Milan do not win against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

And Dyer admits he has a sneaking feeling that it will be the Magpies and not Inter who will go into the hat for the draw after completing another remarkable fightback in a competition which looked to have fizzled out for them after their opening three games in the first phase.

"We're in a similar situation to the one we were in in the first phase," he said.

"We went to Feyenoord knowing that if we won the game, we still could have gone out, and we approached the game with the perfect approach and attitude and we won the game and the results went for us.

"That's exactly what we'll do again, and I have a feeling that Leverkusen might just be able to get the draw, and then it's all up to us to get the three points and qualify to the next stage."

Gary Speed will miss out after suffering a reaction to hernia surgery, while Jonathan Woodgate is ineligible.

But Dyer and Andy O'Brien, who broke his nose during the 2-2 draw with Inter Milan, both return.