Souness: Players Effort Not To Blame

By Matthew Jones
December 12 2004

Graeme Souness is once again refusing to blame his team for today's dissapointing Premiership draw at home to Portsmouth. The result means that the Magpies' have gone three games without a victory, and had it all for the taking due to an early Lee Bowyer goal...

However, Steve Stone equalised for the visitors.

Speaking to the clubs official website, Souness said: "Again I cannot fault the effort from the players, but once again we haven't killed them off.

"It was a great start for us and a fantastic finish from Lee Bowyer, but they have come here with a plan and once they've got back on level terms they have stuck to that plan.

"I thought we could have kicked on from that goal, but we didn't and we let them back into it.

"We're frustrated because the goal was deflected in off JJ (Jermaine Jenas), and on another day that would strike one of our players and go out of play.

"We'll just have to keep plugging away and get out of this little run we're in at the moment."