Steve Bruce delivers update on Karl Darlow and Freddie Woodman

Then everything changed.

Darlow had been put on standby after Martin Dubravka, Newcastle United’s No.1, suffered knee ligament damage in the club’s 1-0 win over Southampton.

However, Dubravka, an ever-present for Newcastle in the league since making his debut in February 2018, could be fit by the time the Premier League resumes this season – if it does at all – following a suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked for a timescale on Dubravka’s return, head coach Steve Bruce said: “Four to six weeks. And Darlow’s been waiting all these years (for a league game).”

Darlow has made five cup appearances so far this season, and Bruce says he has total confidence in the 29-year-old, who is under contract at St James’s Park until next summer.

“Look, he’s played in the cups, and played very, very well,” said Bruce, who also praised 23-year-old Freddie Woodman, who is on loan at Championship club Swansea City.

“We’re very, very fortunate that we’ve got three or four good goalkeepers.

“The kid at Swansea – who we’re monitoring – is doing very, very well. Karl is very, very decent. I see him every day. He’s a very good goalkeeper, so if he gets his chance, I have no problem that he’ll be a very good deputy for him.”

Steve Harper, now a first-team coach at United, can empathise with Darlow. Harper went almost four years without playing a league game during his 20-year playing career at Newcastle because of the form of Shay Given

“I think his loyalty was to the club,” said Bruce, who signed Harper at Hull City after he was released by United in 2013.

“At the time he was an absolutely terrific goalkeeper. I remember him having a spell at Huddersfield where he was talked about as the next England goalkeeper.

“I think his loyalty towards the club maybe got in the way of his own personal career, because he could quite easily have been a No.1 anywhere else. He loved the club that much.”