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Capital One Cup: Newcastle boss Alan Pardew facing goalkeeper crisis ahead of Tyne-Wear derby

Alan Pardew Newcastle Cap One Cup
Image: Alan Pardew: The Newcastle boss felt mistakes proved costly

Alan Pardew is facing the possibility of fielding a 17-year-old in goal against Sunderland on Sunday after Jak Alnwick was injured during the League Cup defeat at Tottenham.

Newcastle are already without senior keepers Tim Krul and Rob Elliot, and third-choice Alnwick is a doubt for the weekend after injuring his shoulder at White Hart Lane.

Next in line is teenager Freddie Woodman, and because the 17-year-old is classed as a professional Pardew has so far been unable to bring in emergency cover.

That could change if Alnwick is ruled out, and Pardew said: "He has an injury to his shoulder so we're going to have to see.

"It is something we might have to look at because there is no way that a 17-year-old that's our fourth-choice should be allowed to go in goal at this level. We will perhaps talk to the Premier League about Jak's situation."

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It was Alnwick's error which gifted Spurs their opening goal in what turned out to be a 4-0 win, and Pardew afterwards said he felt sorry for the thousands of Newcastle supporters who made the trip to London.

"If ever the cliche of goals changing games was relevant, this was it," he said. "I thought the game was pretty even, really. Jak makes a mistake on the cross and you can get away with that sometimes, if the defender clears it or strike hits it over the bar.

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"But it goes in and that kind of summed up our night, really. We had some chances, big chances that we didn't take.

"It was an unfortunate night for our fans because they were brilliant tonight. They gave us everything and we did commitment wise but Tottenham were better and their technical ability in tight areas was probably the difference."

Watch Newcastle v Sunderland live on Sky Sports 1 this Sunday. Kick-off is at 1.30pm

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