Burnley boss Scott Parker defends Martin Dubravka after 'big' mistake against West Ham
Burnley boss Scott Parker has come out in defence of his Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka after his ‘big’ mistake in the Premier League game against West Ham.
Martin Dubravka did not have his best performance last weekend against West Ham but his boss Scott Parker said he did not commit “blatant mistakes”.
The Clarets suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Hammers at the London Stadium but it could have been a different story if the Burnley goalkeeper did not parry a shot out to the feet of Kyle Walker-Peters who made it 3-1 to West Ham late on. What makes the situation worse is in added time Josh Cullen found the net for Parker’s side to bring it back to 3-2 but it was all too late and that mistake - which Arsenal legend Paul Merson described as a “big, big mistake” while commentating over the game on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday - was enough to see Nuno Espirito Santo’s side claim all three points.
Former England international Merson, speaking on Sky Sports, described Tomas Soucek’s long range effort that Dubravka parried saying, “it ain’t the greatest shot in the world, it’s along the ground. Keeper parries it, drops it and there’s Walker-Peters coming in.’
He goes on to add “big, big, big, big goalkeeping mistake by Dubravka and that’s game, set and match, six points from six [for West Ham].”
But his manager came to his defence at full-time saying how Dubravka has been in fine form and helped his side out a lot this season with his performances.
“He's done exceptionally well [this season]. “Martin's the last one I'd be sitting here criticising really. He's pulled us out of some big moments, got us the three points against Wolves.
“They weren’t blatant mistakes but I think Martin would be the first [to admit]...his standards are so high and he's such a top, top keeper that maybe he would have wanted to have done a little better. But that wasn't the case.”
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Dubravka signed for Burnley in the summer on a one-year contract and has pulled off some fine saves so far in this campaign. The Slovakia international joined from Newcastle United where he spent last season as back-up to former Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope but did play a big part in Eddie Howe’s side winning their first domestic trophy in over 70 years as he featured in four out of six Carabao Cup games, including both legs of their 4-0 semi-final victory over Arsenal. However Dubravka was not handed the start at Wembley.
The 36-year-old is well experienced in the English game as he first joined Newcastle in 2018 on loan and he then went on to make over 150 for the club in his seven-year stint in the North East. In the middle of that spell at St James’ Park, Dubravka joined Manchester United on loan in the summer of 2022 after being displaced as number one by Pope but only managed two appearances, both in the Carabao Cup, keeping one clean sheet.
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