ROBSONS POST-POMPEY REACTION

Robson's men were destined for a victory when Craig Bellamy's first half strike had the visitors a goal up at half time.

However, Tresor Lomana Lua Lua, against his parent club, hit a sublime volley with a minute to go to earn Pompey a vital point in their quest to avoid relegation.

Newcastle boss Robson was amazed that Lua Lua's strike found its way in to the back of the net in the dying stages, ans said: "With the equaliser coming so late in the game, it was two points lost.

"They had a lot of possession in front our back four but not behind us. Our keeper (Shay Given) looked bright and sharp and they never looked like scoring today.

"However, they played a short corner and the cross came over to Lua Lua and his shot, believe it or not, went through two pairs of legs - Aaron Hughes and Andy O'Brien - and went in.

"If we got this result, it would have been a good one for us. We only just came from a (Uefa Cup) match in Norway on a Thursday night.

"Three points here today would have been massive for us. Portsmouth are fighting for their lives - trying to stay in The Premiership."

Sir Bobby knows that it was a Newcastle-contracted played that denied his side a vital win, but has stressed that on the day, LuaLua was nothing more than an opponent.

"He's one of our players but he was a player in blue shirt and a player in a blue shirt scored against us," explained Robson.

"He's gone on loan to get more playing time and that has gone against us today, but he was a player in a blue shirt."

The former England boss went on to say there was no bad feeling in the air between him and skipper Alan Shearer following the striker's anger at being left out of Thursday's Uefa Cup draw at Valerenga.

"There no controversy about Alan Shearer. I left him out (on Thursday) because I thought we could win without him.

"I made a managerial decision to leave him out so he could be fresh for today."

Robson now has other concerns... Kieron Dyer, who was forced to leave the field just before the break - suffering with a hamstring problem.

"He's done his hamstring again and it is a massive blow for us," Robson revealed.

"I left him out (on Thursday) so he would be fresh for us today but we won't know how bad it is until we have had a closer look at it."

United's goalscoer Craig Bellamy, felt that the result was fair on the day, saying that Pompey were sometimes the better team and deserved the point they got.

"They deserved the result, they pushed forward and were better with the ball than we were," Bellamy admitted.

"It's not nice to concede a goal in the last minute and it may have been like it was two points dropped but I like to see it as a point gained, as we were not at our best today.

"I thought Portsmouth deserved it. They're fighting for their lives in the relegation zone."

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