Robson returns to heartbreak stadium

Bobby Robson returned to the scene of his worst moment in football – and then vowed to forget all about it.

Newcastle boss Robson last night put his troops through a training session at Juventus’ Stadio Delle Alpi, the stage for England’s World Cup semi-final defeat in 1990, but refused to let the sentiment of the moment get to him.

“It was the worst moment of my professional life, maybe as a player and as a manager,” he admitted. “But it’s a different game and you just have to continue.

“We’re not here about 12 years ago, we’re here for today. That’s history.”

And he was not alone in turning his attention to a Champions League Group E game in which there is so much at stake for his club.

Defender Andy Griffin is under no illusions as to the task ahead against the Italian champions, but has warned their opponents not to forget that Newcastle have a few big names of their own.

The 23-year-old full-back is only too well aware that he and his team-mates will have to shackle the likes of Alessandro del Piero, Edgar Davids and Pavel Nedved if they are to get their campaign off the ground in Turin.

However, he believes that Juve will have to pay just as much attention to the likes of inspirational Magpies skipper Alan Shearer and livewire midfielder Kieron Dyer if they are to prosper.

“That’s what Champions League football is all about,” said Griffin, who has been in fine form since his return to the starting line-up in Kiev earlier this month. “You’re playing the cream of the crop.

“We know all about the players they’ve got, but they’ll be talking about the Shearers, the Solanos and the Dyers. We’ve got a team full of quality as well.

“We played in Kiev and we did reasonably well. Okay, we lost 2-0, but we can take a lot out of the game.

“Feyenoord drew 1-1 with Juventus and I thought if it was another night, we could have beaten Feyenoord three or four-one.

“We were easily the better team and they drew against Juventus, so there’s no reason to think ‘Juventus beat Dynamo Kiev 5-0, all hell’s going to be let loose’.

“That’s not the case. We’re going to go into this game with a lot of confidence, and football is football, you just never know.”

Griffin has had to wait for his chance after enduring a series of injuries under successive managers which have limited his involvement to depressingly few appearances since his move to St James’ Park in January 1998.

But now he has got his hands on the right-back spot which until recently had been occupied so successfully by Aaron Hughes, now operating on the left, he has no intention of letting go without a fight.

“It’s been a frustrating time, particularly last year which I didn’t enjoy one little bit,” he said. “But I’m glad I came to the club.

“It’s been a learning curve, and I’ve not looked back.”

That learning curve will get all the more steep when the first whistle signals the start of perhaps United’s toughest test of this European campaign.

But at least they will have both Dyer and French winger Laurent Robert fit after they shook off Achilles and hamstring injuries respectively to hand their manager a timely boost.