Robson delighted with Ambrose

SIR BOBBY Robson has spoken of his delight with new signing Darren Ambrose and revealed he could well give him his Newcastle United debut against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, writes Derek Davis.

Robson bought Ambrose for a cut-price £1.5m from Ipswich in March but the teenager, who rose through the Town's youth ranks, was suffering from an injury sustained in a bad tackle at Norwich a couple of weeks earlier.

The Newcastle boss has been further impressed with the 19-year-old after seeing more of him at close quarters.

He said: "Darren has been injured since he joined us so we have seen very little of him. We really bought him for next season but he has played in a couple of reserve team games, so whether I sling him in against West Bromwich Albion or not remains to be seen.

"A lot of players have played their hearts out and I don't just discard players just like that. But he is one for next season and anything we do with him this season will stand him in good stead.

"He looks a good player, he has settled in well and has bought a house in the area.

"He knows he is in a bigger pool and he will have to fight for his place but he is not afraid of that. He has the right character, right attitude and is right in technical terms from what we have seen on the training pitch. He has trained with the first-team squad and looks super."

Robson, who endorsed Town's decision to appoint Joe Royle last October, felt they should have won promotion.

He said: "It was an important change and they went for an experienced manager and that was a good choice.

"Ipswich just missed out on the play-offs and they will curse some of the things that happened to them. If they had made the play-offs, with the football they play and the way they finished with a 4-1 win over Derby, they would have been strong contenders to go up.

"Hopefully they can do it next season."