EDDIE HOWE hailed Martin Dubravka as Newcastle United’s match winner after the Slovakian’s shot-stopping heroics secured a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Dubravka made crucial saves in both normal time and extra-time as Newcastle drew 1-1 with Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Then, after saving Rovers’ first penalty from Sammie Szmodics, Dubravka settled the shoot-out as he touched Dom Hyam’s final spot-kick onto the post.

The win was Newcastle’s first-ever penalty shoot-out success in the FA Cup, and booked a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

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Howe said: “Martin was so important to us, very much so. It was a combination of things. The two penalty saves were obviously huge for us, but he really performed well in open play too, and we needed him to because they had a few big moments.

“I thought the best save he probably made was in the build-up to their goal, which I thought was a magnificent save, tipping it onto the bar.

“Unfortunately, they scored the rebound, and that was probably the most disappointing thing on the night. We worked so hard to lead, so to let them back into the game was a kick at that time.”

Dubravka had to sit out last weekend’s defeat at Arsenal because of an illness, and the shot-stopper was touch and go right up until kick-off time last night.

Howe said: “It was in the balance. It wasn’t clear. He was nowhere near fit for the weekend against Arsenal, and he hasn’t been 100 per cent for quite a long period of time. He’s been playing while feeling slightly ill, and he deserves huge credit for doing that.”

Howe also reserved special praise for Elliot Anderson, who scored a penalty in the shoot-out after coming off the bench in the second period of extra-time.

Anderson was making his first appearance since October after recovering from a stress fracture in his back, and had barely touched the ball before stepping up to confidently stroke home his spot-kick.

Howe said: “I think it’s worth noting how much I trust him, because in that moment, I was bringing him onto the pitch to take a penalty. I took Lewie (Miley) off and brought Elliot on because I trust him in those big moments.

“He’s technically very good. He’s a specialist set-piece taker really, a penalty taker, but he hasn’t played and he hasn’t really trained. He’s worked incredibly hard on his rehab, and he looks really fit, so I’ve been really pleased with him, but he’s coming in cold, really. So it’s big credit to him for how he took his penalty.”