Old Trafford thrashing 'blessing in disguise' - Dyer

Newcastle midfielder Kieron Dyer believes Saturday’s 5-3 drubbing at Manchester United could be a “blessing in disguise” as Inter Milan roll into town for another huge Champions League night.

The Magpies were torn apart at Old Trafford on Saturday and made to pay for their defensive frailty in agonising style.

But Dyer insists a black day in Manchester can serve him and his team-mates well as they attempt to prolong their unlikely European dream tonight.

“In a way that defeat could be a blessing in disguise because we were getting carried away after the Feyenoord and Southampton games,” he said.

“Obviously everything was going well, and sometimes you need a setback just for you to re-focus and get yourselves back into the right mental approach because it was missing against Manchester United.

“In football matches if you win six personal battles on the pitch you’ve got a great chance of winning the match.

“I don’t think we won one personal battle, and I think only Gary Speed could hold his hands up and say he had a decent game.

“If you go to Old Trafford with everyone playing poorly and losing their personal battles, you’ve got no chance.”

The England midfielder has nonetheless warned Hector Cuper’s side not to under-estimate a team who came back from the dead in the first phase of the competition to qualify for the last 16.

The Nerazzuri arrived at St James’ Park licking their own wounds following their 1-0 reverse at the hands of arch rivals AC Milan at the weekend.

Dyer knows his side have yet to produce the form they showed last season to earn their place in the big time – and, while Newcastle have had to rely upon grit and determination at times in recent weeks, he is certain there is more to come.

“It’s all about this attitude and team spirit and team bonding,” he said.

“We have gone behind in games a number of times; yet we seem to draw on an extra 10% and win the game.

“What’s very pleasing from this season is I don’t think we have, as a team, reached the heights of last season from a performance point of view, but we’ve shown that battling spirit and we’ve ground out results.

“That’s a sign of a very good team. When I first came here that wasn’t the case. Once we’d gone one goal down you could sense it in the players – ‘Here we go again’ – and we’d lose the game 3-0.

“But with all the battling qualities and the leadership qualities of Alan Shearer, the gaffer and Gary Speed, the young players just go from that.”

United have been boosted by the news Craig Bellamy, Laurent Robert and Hugo Viana are all in the squad after injury – and, although the Frenchman will definitely only make the bench three weeks after fracturing his cheekbone, Robson has most of his players available for selection.

Full-back Andy Griffin will undergo a late fitness test after a bout of gastro-enteritis, but there is a certain confidence on Tyneside for a game which just a few weeks ago was little more than a pipedream.

Manager Bobby Robson said: “We know that it’s at home, and if we can get some points on the board it will give us some huge confidence because the next one is Barcelona away.

“That’s the big scalp, I guess, because they have won all of their six matches.

“Inter Milan are a typical Italian team, of course. They know how to play away from home in European contests, and it’s not going to be an easy push-over.

“They’ve got good players; we’ve got good players. We’ve got to handle their good players, and they know they have to handle ours.

“It’s going to to-and-fro all night long.”