Bowyer vows to keep dream alive

14 April 2012

Lee Bowyer has vowed to help keep Newcastle's European dream alive to ensure he has something to play for this season

The 28-year-old midfielder will sit out Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, as well as Barclays Premiership trips to Norwich and Old Trafford, under the ban he received for his punch-up with team-mate Kieron Dyer.

He could yet see that suspension extended after being hit with an FA charge, and that could leave him with a lengthy spell out of domestic football.

He can still play in the UEFA Cup, though, and is determined to make amends for his misdemeanours by helping to ease his side past Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-final, second leg tonight.

"I'm gutted with the ban and it will probably hit me more when I'm sat in the stands for two or three games in a row unable to play any part," said Bowyer.

"But I'm eligible to play in the European matches and I'll be giving 100 per cent in Lisbon to try and get us through to the semi- finals. It's a huge game for us, and I want to be part of it.

"There's nothing I can do now about missing games because of the red card, but in the games I am available for, I want to be playing and doing all I can for the team and the club."

Bowyer emerged as a second-half substitute in the first leg to a surprisingly warm welcome at St James' Park just five days after the clash with Dyer which landed him in hot water.

He has since said and done all the right things in a bid to win back the favour of those who still doubt him, but ultimately, only performances on the pitch will prove his salvation.

It is ironic that Europe could yet save his season - he arrived at Newcastle with a six-game European ban under his belt for stamping on Malaga midfielder Gerardo during his days at Leeds, and ended up having to serve the suspension twice because of an administrative blunder.

He has already completed a one-match UEFA Cup ban this season after being sent off at Heerenveen for two bookable offences, the second of them a harsh caution for handball, and he was also dismissed during the 3-1 league defeat at Liverpool on December 19.

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