Newcastle United in safe hands with Rob Elliot in Tim Krul’s absence

Krul is facing several weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Elliot made his first Premier appearance of the campaign in the 1-0 defeat at West Ham.

Krul, who suffered the injury in training on the eve of the game, is out of the games against Burnley, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur – and is doubtful for the Tyne-Wear derby on December 21.

“Tim’s a good friend,” Elliot told SportMail. “He’s playing really well, and we’re all gutted that he got injured.

“But you have to be ready. We all get our chance at some point through injury, and you’ve just got to make sure when the games come that you show what you can do.”

Elliot couldn’t do much about Aaron Cresswell’s winner, which was the result of a mishit shot from Cheikhou Kouyate.

Kouyate’s scuffed shot bounced into the box, and Cresswell got to the ball before Cheik Tiote, Newcastle’s stand-in captain.

“It was a bit of a spawny goal,” said Elliot. “He’s mishit a shot, and it’s fallen straight to their player. That summed it up.

“It was looking like a draw –there wasn’t much going on in the game. They didn’t have many shots on target, and we didn’t have many shots on target.

“It was quite close. It was a disappointing result. Their goal was very disappointing.”

Elliot and his team-mates are now focused on tomorrow night’s league game against second-from-bottom Burnley at Turf Moor.

“It was a fantastic run, and you want to come into the team and keep it going,” said the Republic of Ireland international. “That wasn’t to be. Hopefully, we can kick on and take the hurt into Tuesday and make sure we get a result.”

Elliot – who has made two Capital One Cup appearances for Newcastle this season– has been patiently waiting for a league opportunity.

“You obviously keep training hard and working every day,” said Elliot, who has made 25 appearances since joining from Charlton in 2011