ONLY one member of the Newcastle United squad has a Carabao Cup winner’s medal. Ask him about it, though, and he will readily admit he would much rather not have it in his possession. Such were the bizarre circumstances Martin Dubravka found himself in last season.

Cast your mind back to the start of the year, and Dubravka was patiently waiting for an opportunity to return to Newcastle’s first team. That opportunity should have come in late February, when Nick Pope’s red card against Liverpool ruled him out of the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.

As number two, Dubravka should have stepped in to replace him. Instead, the Slovakian’s appearances in two earlier League Cup matches against Aston Villa and Burnley – while on a loan spell at Manchester United – meant he was cup tied and unable to play.

Loris Karius started for Newcastle in place of Pope, the Magpies were beaten 2-0, and Eddie Howe and his players trudged away from Wembley regretting an opportunity missed. Bizarrely, though, while Dubravka would not have been due a winner’s medal had Newcastle triumphed, his early-round appearances for Manchester United entitled him to be honoured as part of their triumph. A few weeks after the final, he was presented with a small box, with something special inside.

“I didn’t really expect it, because I didn’t know if they would give it to me,” said Dubravka, who finally finds himself back in the Newcastle team ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup quarter-final with Chelsea, “It was weird to get it, but if you think about it, it's part of the game. I played two matches for them and how many matches was it to get to the final?

“It was a strange situation to be in, I didn’t want to be in it. I have the medal at home, but not on display. Don’t get me wrong, it's still a medal you know, so I still appreciate it. When we played against Manchester United (later that season) in the league, they brought it up.”

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Dubravka experienced a whirlwind of emotions around last season’s final, but is dismissive when it is suggested that he might have split loyalties at Wembley.

His loan spell at Old Trafford was both brief and largely unsuccessful, and he readily admits he was desperate to return to Tyneside in January’s transfer window. His time at Newcastle has also had plenty of ups and downs, but he has spent almost six years with the club, making 139 senior appearances, so when it came to deciding who to support at Wembley, there was never a decision to be made.

“I played two matches for Manchester United, yet everyone was asking me who I’m going to support,” said Dubravka. “I always say I always support Newcastle because of the length of time I’ve spent here. It was five-and-a-half years as opposed to five months, so you can’t compare. I wanted Newcastle to win for the city, for the club, because the fans are just waiting for something special.”

Like a number of his team-mates, Dubravka has come through the tough times on Tyneside, and is now revelling in the renewed optimism and hope that has been generated by the club’s rise up the table under Eddie Howe.

At various stages of his Newcastle career, the 34-year-old has been linked with a permanent exit from St James’ Park, but he has always found himself drawn back to the club that offered him a chance to experience English football when they signed him from Sparta Prague, turning an initial loan move into a permanent transfer in the summer of 2018.

“I’ve spent so much time here,” he said. “I could have left the club a couple of years ago, but I didn't want to because this is a special place. The fans and the city are connected, you can see that with every game. The fans travel everywhere to support us and the amount of requests for tickets, you can't imagine how many. The stadium should be 100,000 capacity really.”

While Dubravka has clearly developed an extremely strong bond with Newcastle, that does not mean he has been happy to live in Pope’s shadow for the last couple of years. The life of a second-choice goalkeeper is a strange one, with the need to support and encourage a colleague always having to be balanced by the need to retain a sense of personal ambition.

“It was very stressful (being out of the team) to be fair,” said Dubravka. “I’m not going to lie because I didn’t know what to expect when I came back, but I want to be part of the team again. I was waiting for so long (to get back in the team), and I know injuries are part of football, so I’m happy to be back in goal and hopefully we can go on and win some more matches.”

Winning at Stamford Bridge would be a huge fillip in the wake of last week’s dramatic Champions League exit at the hands of AC Milan, with a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals for the second season in a row at stake.

Chelsea have been far from fluent under Mauricio Pochettino this season, but they claimed a much-needed win over Sheffield United at the weekend and will be dangerous opponents given Newcastle’s ongoing issues. Nevertheless, having gained a winner’s medal in the most unlikely of circumstances last season, Dubravka would love to earn one by more conventional means this term.

“It would be absolutely fantastic,” he said. “Everyone is buzzing here, and everyone wants to win something and achieve something here, and it would be amazing. Look at the stadium and look at the fans, it’s a special place to play so it would be amazing to win something.”