It wasn’t all joy for Town striker David McGoldrick when his dramatic goal deep into stoppage time rescued a point in last week’s 2-2 home draw with rock-bottom Rotherham.
McGoldrick, who will be 29 later this month, admitted: "It was a bittersweet moment. Scoring was great for me personally but it was still a disappointing result from a game we really had to win.
"Looking back, I thought we did well in the first half but not in the second and it was still frustrating at the end, although from my point of view of course it was good to play some minutes and score a goal.”
McGoldrick’s first 90 minutes since recovering from an injury sustained in August’s EFL Cup defeat to Stevenage coincided with a crowd reaction at the end that saw boss Mick McCarthy head down the tunnel with the jeers of fed-up fans ringing in his ears.
McGoldrick added: "I wasn’t really surprised because it’s a bit tense at the club at the minute and I could see why they would react that way.
"They are passionate fans and they want the best for the team. I think we are suffering after our success over the past couple of years when we did so well on the same budget that we are on now.
"We’ve had some highs but it’s not always going to be high — there are bound to be some lows and we are batting against it at the minute.
"We just have to keep going but I’m not surprised by the fans. They pay their money and they have every right to voice their opinions.”
The former Southampton and Nottingham Forest striker confessed that his latest spell on the sidelines was "a shattering blow” and recalled how the injury was sustained.
He said: "I went on at half-time against Stevenage and I can remember doing it after about five minutes.
"I jumped up and went for a header, and when I landed it hurt straight away. I had to play on with it for the whole game and then I knew the next day how bad it was.
"Initially I was told I would be out for about three weeks and I thought ‘Okay, there’s an international break coming up, so it won’t be too bad’ but the next day I was called in again and told it was going to be 12 weeks.
"That was hard to take but the physios are brilliant here and both they and the gaffer gave me plenty of support. I just told myself that it was another setback that I had to come back from.
"I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I could be in a far worse position in my life. I’m playing for a great football club and I’m doing what every boy wants to do — and I’m still doing it.
"I’d been out for 10 or 11 weeks so when I was told to go on at half-time up at Newcastle it was a good boost to my confidence.
"The gaffer wanted to get me on, to get me back in the team and to support the boys, and of course to get me some minutes.
"I had been training a few weeks before that — non-contact, building up my fitness — so I was prepared and I felt fine.
"I thought I did alright but obviously we were beaten by a better team and I think Newcastle will go on to win the league.
"On Saturday against Rotherham I thought I did some good things. Fatigue kicked in but the fitness will come.
"I was stiff on Sunday and Monday but that was to be expected. I trained fine on Tuesday and today [Thursday] so I’m ready for Saturday again and the game against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
"I played for them on loan from Nottingham Forest in September and October 2011. It was short, a little loan spell. I don’t have amazing memories of it — they were in League One at the time — but I did get a goal.”