It’s like ‘All Our Yesterdays’ as Steve Harper comes up against the man he used to train with 15 years ago!
Harper and Pavel Srnicek both joined Newcastle Utd in 1991 and amazingly they will go head-to-head in the next six weeks that it takes Shay Given to return from injury.
Steve Harper heads for Manchester United on Sunday determined to erase the memory of his biggest disappointment – that Xabi Alonso goal from 60 yards at Anfield last week. And with another ‘dodgy’ goal against him on Thursday in the UEFA Cup, the competition from Srnicek could be stronger than he first thought.
The Czech international has signed a three-month contract.
It has been Harper’s misfortune to spend much of the last nine years as understudy to one of the most consistent keepers in the Premiership.
Harper: ‘If I thought there was a problem there or I did not think I was up to the task when an opportunity comes, I would not have stayed.
‘I know what a great club this is and what a great opportunity it would be to play week in, week out, and I long for that opportunity.
‘Week in, week out, it is tough. I love my training – I work very hard day in, day out and on a Saturday, I am like a bear with a sore head not playing.
‘It is hard, but you wait at a great club for an opportunity like this and I have waited a long time, so it is up to me to make the most of it.’
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