WITH debate ongoing in his homeland about the reasons he was left out of the latest Holland squad, Daryl Janmaat thinks Newcastle United’s rise up the Premier League table will earn him a recall.
The Dutch defender was instrumental and named man of the match in the Magpies’ 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion last weekend when his crosses created both goals for Ayoze Perez and Fabricio Coloccini.
But that has not earned him a call-up from Holland coach Guus Hiddink, whose side are six points behind Iceland and Czech Republic in the Euro 2016 qualifiers ahead of tomorrow’s game with Latvia.
Janmaat has seemingly paid the price for his involvement in the 2-1 defeat to the Czechs in September, while Newcastle’s early season form will not have helped him.
But the defender said: “I think form like what I’m showing at Newcastle will get me back in the squad. It was nice to get two assists at West Brom. I like to get down the line and send crosses in, that’s one of my strengths, so to see those crosses end up in the net is fantastic. That’s what makes it worthwhile.”
Janmaat is disappointed to have been ignored by Hiddink and is was claimed he has paid the price for taking a step backwards in his career by swapping Feyenoord for Newcastle.
Janmaat, a £5.5m arrival, disagrees: “In terms of calibre we might not be at the calibre of the teams at the top but in terms of the size of the club we definitely are. Newcastle United are big, definitely comparable to Feyenoord.
“I have no regrets about my transfer. I am sure that this move has been good for me in every respect.”
Newcastle’s failure to win any of their opening seven league matches will not have helped Janmaat’s cause, but a five-match winning run has lifted them into the Premier League’s top eight.
He said: “It’s great to be where we are now. We have to enjoy where we are but we have to be sharp. QPR will also be tough at home next Saturday, but it is a great chance for us to climb even higher.”
Despite the frustrations of that early season slump, Janmaat thinks the squad has shown the character required to move on and enjoy a successful campaign.
“We have to forget about what went wrong. We are in it for each other, we have five wins in a row and that’s great. We have to focus on the future not the first few months,” he said.
“That’s why I signed for Newcastle, for form like we are showing. We can have a great season. We just have to keep going. The shape of the team is good. We have got even better, got more confidence and we are playing better.”
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