Newcastle United must put their mauling at Wolverhampton Wanders behind them or jeopardise their Champions League aspirations, according to Nikos Dabizas.

Dabizas has been in the game long enough to realise that disappointment cannot be dwelt on for too long and has called for everyone to rally together ahead of a return to Premiership action.

The Greek international was as hurt as anyone by the loss of Newcastle best source of a trophy this season, but he believes Sir Bobby Robson's men will respond in the right manner at West Ham on Saturday.

He said: "Obviously it was a big blow. We have lost a great opportunity to win something this season, but it is gone and there is nothing we can do about it now.

"We must not forget what happened, but we have to put it to one side. It is how you respond to defeats like this that is important. We have to respond well at Upton Park. Nobody should forget that we are in the top four in the Premiership and if we win our game in hand we will go joint second. That is a very good position to be in.

"If you look at others teams like Liverpool, they would love to be in our situation. They have not won a league game in ten and that is a crisis."

Dabizas also believes Newcastle are heading in the right direction to consistently challenge Manchester United and Arsenal at the top of the Premiership.

And although a realistic chance of silverware seems to have gone, Dabizas is still confident United will be in a strong position when the season ends in May. He said: "When you have a bad defeat people often ignore all the good things that have happened.

"We have made phenomenal improvements over the last couple of seasons and one bad result doesn't change that. I believe the club is still in a healthy position and our main aim is to qualify for the Champions League again."

Luke Edwards