Premiership: Dyer declares delight at long-awaited return

Kieron Dyer finally put an end to his injury nightmare as he returned to action in Newcastle’s hard-fought win at his former club Ipswich and declared: ‘‘It’s great to be back.’’

Dyer last appeared almost 10 months ago, on February 24 at home to Manchester City, and has since been ruled out with shin-related problems.

However, he came on with nine minutes left at Portman Road as Nolberto Solano’s 20th-minute strike secured a 1-0 win to keep Newcastle fourth in the FA Barclaycard Premiership and deepen Ipswich’s plight at the bottom of the table.

Dyer declared: ‘‘It’s been an absolute nightmare to have been out injured for the past 10 months but coming back at Ipswich was maybe fate.

‘‘When Olivier Bernard came on for Laurent Robert in the second half, I was steaming on the touchline, desperate to get on.

‘‘Eventually the manager put me on and it’s a great feeling to be back. Now I’ve just got to get my head down and try to win back a regular place for Newcastle.’’

Newcastle’s woeful run of results in London is well documented but this was actually their first victory south of the midlands in an incredible 36 games.

That included 28 fixtures in the capital, four games at Southampton, one at Watford and another at Stevenage, as well as last season’s defeat at Ipswich.

Robson was therefore delighted to have not only beaten his own former club ‘‘this doesn’t count as London, does it?’’ he asked with a smile but also been drawn at home to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.

As for Dyer’s comeback, he added: ‘‘He’s not ready yet but we brought him in the hope that we could stick him on for the public and he did all right.

‘‘He’ll be ready soon. Another two weeks and he’ll be mustard. He’s got his sights set on the World Cup already.

‘‘It won’t take him too long to reach top fitness. He just needs a couple of matches and he’ll be prime.’’

Robson feels sympathy for Ipswich’s plight, now stranded at the bottom of the table, four points behind Leicester and 10 points behind 16th-placed West Ham.

‘‘I still see Ipswich as a team who will get out of it. I know they’re languishing there but I’m speaking with my head and not just my heart,’’ he insisted.

‘‘I had no sympathy during the game but my heart goes out to them. I just pray to goodness that they get the points to survive. I think they will.’’

Ipswich boss George Burley, who confirmed that Titus Bramble had been dropped, was grateful for Robson’s support, as well as that of his long-sighted chairman David Sheepshanks.

However, Burley insisted: ‘‘Bobby is a legend here and it’s no surprise he’s doing so well at Newcastle. He says we are too good to go down but only we can put it right.

‘‘We’ve got a big battle on our hands to stay in the Premiership. Everyone will be writing us off so it’s probably the biggest challenge that I’ve had as a manager at this club to pick up enough points to stay up.’’