Trophy looks beyond us - Dyer

Newcastle striker Kieron Dyer insists his side’s season is not over despite admitting that their best chance of silverware has gone.

The Magpies headed for Anfield on Saturday believing they had a genuine chance of ending their 35-year wait for a trophy in this season’s FA Cup, but lost 2-1.

Dyer was one of the men who saw Champions League football snatched from his grasp by Partizan Belgrade earlier in the season.

However, he is determined that the fight will continue on the two remaining fronts, the UEFA Cup and the hunt for fourth place in the Barclaycard Premiership, dual targets for which Gerard Houllier’s revitalised side are also contenders.

“This defeat is every bit as painful for us to take as when we lost the Champions League qualifier to Partizan Belgrade,” he said.

“We were gutted to miss out on Champions League football, but this means we have probably seen our best hope of silverware this season vanish. That hurts. Our best hopes of winning something were the league and FA Cup and we’re out of both.

“My big worry now – and I’m sure it’s the same for the fans – is that we will end the season with without anything to put in the trophy cabinet again.

“We still have the UEFA Cup to go for and we will do all we can to win it, but there are some tough teams waiting for us.

“Our season is not over and we will do all we can to finish fourth in the table and win the UEFA Cup. It is not impossible and we will not give up.”

Liverpool edged past the Magpies with an excellent second-half display which settled a tense encounter and gave them the psychological advantage in the hunt for a top-four finish.

However, Dyer is confident Newcastle can bounce back and gain revenge in the remaining months of the league season.

“There was not much to choose between the teams, but Liverpool had home advantage,” he told the Newcastle Journal. “But it was a cup one-off.

“I don’t think it will give them a psychological advantage in the Premiership because there are games left. We have everything to play for.”