Verbruggen: There's much more to come from me

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Goalkeeper pulled off terrific saves to ensure Albion took a point against Newcastle.

Nick Szczepanik

2025-05-06T06:00+01:00

Bart Verbruggen pulled off a terrific save at the end of our draw with Newcastle to deny Callum Wilson. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Bart Verbruggen believes that Albion are still in the race for Europe despite dropping two points at home to Newcastle United.

“I think we did good,” Bart said. “But there's also a lot that we could have done a bit better to give us a better chance to win the game, but we'll watch it back, analyse it and try to do better next time.

“Of course Newcastle's a good team, but every game that you're winning minute 88 and you don't end up winning the game feels like dropped points, so that's disappointing.

“It's a very close battle for that eighth place, and we just have to try and win every game. Of course today we can be disappointed, tomorrow as well, but then after we have to look forward and focus on next week.”

It could have been even worse if Bart had not made a save from Callum Wilson in added time, after having little to do in the rest of the match.

“At the end of course we were disappointed that we were not winning anymore, so we wanted to try and get back in front, but they just scored the equaliser and maybe thought, ‘Okay, we can do some more,’ so the game opened up a bit. Both teams got chances and the team needed me and luckily I was able to save it.”

He has been performing so well that head coach Fabian Hurzeler recently tipped him to become one of the best goalkeepers in the world. But Bart insists that he is not there yet.

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Honours even as Albion draw 1-1 with Newcastle United at the Amex Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Club photographers Paul Hazlewood and James Boardman were on the sidelines to capture all the action.

“It's nice to hear of course, I really appreciate the trust he puts in me,” Bart said. “I've learned already a lot from him in this season in general, but I know my potential, I know my quality, but I also know that I'm far away from what I can be, so I just have to keep my head down and work hard.

“I'm 22 now, I've just played over 100 games of professional football and I just feel that there's so much more in me in terms of potential because there's so much more stuff that I can learn about the game, about being a goalie, about being an athlete outside of the pitch.

“That’s just really exciting and I just want to become the best version of myself and where that takes me, we'll see.”