GARY Speed last night cast a rueful look over Newcastle United's nightmare start to the Champions League and insisted: We deserve to be in the second round.

As Alan Shearer admitted the penalty that saw off Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday could prove to be the most important spot-kick of his career, Speed was left hoping the three successive defeats at the beginning of their Group E campaign would not prove decisive.

Certainly, Newcastle would be on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 had they not been edged out by Feyenoord and Juventus as they took time to acclimatise to the rarefied atmosphere of the Champions' League.

They are now oozing with confidence ahead of next month's trip to Rotterdam, even though they need Juve to avoid defeat to Kiev to give them any chance of surviving the first round.

But Speed, man-of-the-match against the Ukrainians two days ago, was left to reflect on what might have been had they not been so slow out of their European blocks.

He said: "The situation now makes me a bit disappointed about the opening three games.

"I thought we didn't deserve to win the game in Kiev, but I felt we were unlucky in the other two games. If we had got something out of them it would be a different story now.

"But that's the way it goes, and all we can do is go to Feyenoord and win, and hope Juve can do us a favour.

"The Kiev game just shows our fighting spirit at the moment. We were behind again, but we never gave up and we got an excellent result."

The Wales international's views were echoed by Aaron Hughes, who admitted a place in the UEFA Cup for finishing third behind Juventus and Kiev would be little consolation.

He said: "It would be something special for the players and the fans if we were to get through after having no points from the first three games.

"I think we deserve to go through. We had a lot of bad luck in the first few games, and the Feyenoord game in particular could have gone either way.

"If we had won that game, you never know what position we would be in now.

"If we get three points in Holland we will be guaranteed third place in the group, so we wouldn't be totally down and out if we don't qualify.

"But the Champions' League is the cream. That's where you want to be every year."

Shearer hopes his penalty against Kiev will prove the difference between a place in the Champions' League second phase and a UEFA Cup spot.

After taking countless crucial spot-kicks for Newcastle as well as Blackburn Rovers and England, he said: "That might be the most important kick I've had from 12 yards out in my career if we go through against Feyenoord.

"It would mean so much to everyone here to get through to the next round.

"It was a great win for us. It gives us a chance - not a great chance, but a chance all the same -of salvaging something after the first three games."

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