Toon icon rubs salt in Sunderland's wounds after 'special' first Burnley win

ADOPTED GEORDIE Martin Dubravka’s first victory at Burnley was made even sweeter by the fact it came against Sunderland.

The former Newcastle goalkeeper, 36, became a Toon Army favourite during his seven-and-a-half years at St. James’ Park.

1 Geordie hero Martin Dubravka celebrates after helping Burnley beat Sunderland Credit: Getty

He needed no extra motivation after suffering a 3-0 loss at Tottenham on his debut, but the Slovakian stopper got it anyway from Tyneside.

And it worked a treat as he pulled off a good early save to deny Eliezer Mayenda, keep a clean sheet and ultimately help seal a maiden Prem win for the Clarets .

Dubravka said: “I'm not gonna lie, this is a special victory for me for obvious reasons. I can't even describe it.

“I spent almost eight years in Newcastle and played in the derby once, so I'm glad that we won it.

“I got so many messages from the Geordies before the match wishing me the best and that we hopefully smashed them.”

Dubravka has only been at Turf Moor a couple of weeks but is already enjoying his senior role in the dressing-room.

He said: “That's why the gaffer and the club brought me here because of my experience.

“I've been here in the Premier League for almost eight years. So if I can help the players with my experience, I would love to.”

Dubravka knows all about Burnley’s mean defence, which conceded just 16 goals last term, but says this performance shows the Clarets have more than just a mean backline.

He added: “Of course, if you keep the clean sheet, that's great for the team, especially for the keeper. But it's not only about that.

“Today we actually played nice football. It was a good moment.

“We need to build on that.

“There's still certain moments where we need to get better, absolutely, but we are at the beginning.

“Hopefully this is a good starting point.”