Newcastle United skipper Fabio Coloccini has refused to put the blame for the 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on goalkeeper Karl Darlow.

Illness ruled out keeper Rob Elliot half-an-hour before kick-off, which forced manager Steve McClaren to hand Darlow his Premier League debut.

Darlow was responsible for the late Darren Fletcher winner, allowing the tame header to squirm past him, but Coloccini claims that the 25-year-old cannot be blamed for the defeat.

"When a player gets injured in the warm-up, or is sick like Robbie, and the team has to change it is always difficult," he told nufc.co.uk.

"But we cannot say that was why we lost. There is always a teammate who can come in and do the same work and today that was Karl.

"Karl is a very good goalkeeper, we trust him and have confidence in him. The result was not because of the change."