PETER Lovenkrands last night dedicated his point-winning goal against West Bromwich Albion to his father, Bent, who died on Friday.

Lovenkrands’ 55th-minute header earned Newcastle a 2- 2 draw with the Baggies, and extended their lead at the top of the Championship table to three points.

The striker was not even expected to play after he was given compassionate leave to mourn the death of his father, who lost a lengthy battle against cancer at the end of last week.

But after making himself available to take his place in the starting line-up for the top-of-the-table encounter, Lovenkrands performed an emotional tribute in the wake of his second-half strike.

The 29-year-old raised one arm towards the heavens as he celebrated his equaliser, and had tears in his eyes as he trotted back towards the halfway line to receive the acclaim of his team-mates.

“It’s hard to put things into words,” said Lovenkrands, who has scored four goals in his last two matches for the Magpies. “It’s all a bit surreal, and there’s still a bit of emotion now. I was just so pleased that we got at least a point and I got a goal for my dad. It meant a lot.

“It was a difficult decision (to play), but my dad was a very big football fan. He would have wanted me to do this and I didn’t want to let him down.

“It was a fair result. West Brom had some big chances and so did we. Overall, when everything has calmed down, it’s probably a fair result.”

Chris Hughton had told Lovenkrands to remain with his family for as long as he felt necessary, but the Newcastle boss was delighted to be able to include the striker in his starting XI following his hattrick in last week’s FA Cup win over Plymouth.

Hughton signed Lovenkrands on a long-term deal at the start of the season, and was quick to pay tribute to the Dane’s dedication and professionalism.

“I think he deserves immense credit,” said the Magpies manager. “We left the decision to him. We are very much behind him and his family, but he wanted to play.

“For him to get a goal, and an equalising goal for us is great credit to him and the spirit that we have here.

“I spoke with him the day after his father passed away and that was really just to send my condolences and the condolences of the group of lads we have here.

“I then spoke to him again and he expressed a wish to be involved. I think the thinking from him is that he wanted to play because his father was very proud of him and I think he felt his father would have liked him to play. It shows great qualities from him as an individual because it has been a very difficult time for him.”

Danny Guthrie was Newcastle’s other goalscorer, with an excellent first-half freekick, but West Brom scored two goals of their own through Jonas Olsson and Roman Bednar.

“The result keeps the gap between ourselves and West Brom,” said Hughton. “But I guess the happiest manager would be (Nottingham Forest boss) Billy Davies.”

Hughton will spend the rest of the week attempting to engineer a transfer breakthrough, and is ready to make a renewed approach to Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood after Jermaine Beckford committed his short-term future to Leeds.

Hughton has ruled out a short-term deal for Nolberto Solano though, and revealed the Peruvian was only training with the Magpies at the end of last week as a favour to a former employee.