PAUL DUMMETT is hoping his defensive versatility will enhance his chances of becoming an integral part of Newcastle United’s first-choice line-up.

Having spent the vast majority of his Magpies career to date playing at left-back, Dummett was switched to centre-half on Wednesday and responded with an exemplary display as Newcastle knocked reigning champions Manchester City out of the Capital One Cup.

Eventually, Alan Pardew expects centre-half to become the 23-year-old’s natural position, but with Steven Taylor poised to return to the backline for today’s visit of Liverpool, Dummett is set to return to the left-back role he has filled in seven of Newcastle’s nine league games.

He found himself on the opposite flank in the closing stages of September’s Capital One Cup third-round win at Crystal Palace, and while the ‘Mr Versatility’ tag can sometimes be a poisoned chalice, the Wales international is happy to have proved he can flourish in a number of different positions.

“Hopefully, it’ll help me to be able to play in a few different defensive roles,” said Dummett. “I’ve spent most of my time at left-back, but I played in the middle at Man City and I also played at right-back as well in the last round against Crystal Palace.

“I’ve played everywhere, and hopefully that’ll give the manager options because he knows he can trust me wherever he asks me to play. It’s good for me to show that I can do that.”

Nevertheless, the Newcastle-born defender concedes it was still a surprise when he was informed he would be starting alongside Fabricio Coloccini at the heart of the backline at the Etihad Stadium.

He had only played there once before in a first-team game, and struggles to recall too many occasions when he had started at centre-half at any level.

“I haven’t really played at centre-half much, maybe just a couple of times for the reserves and then when I made my first Premier League start against Sunderland,” said Dummett. “It’s not somewhere I’ve played much, and it was a bit weird to be starting there against Manchester City with such little experience of the position. But I thought I did well.

“It helps when you’re playing alongside someone like Fabricio Coloccini because he’s such an experienced player. He talks you through games and he’s a senior player who’s played a lot of games throughout his career. For me to play alongside him, it helps me to learn as well. I was just delighted I put in a good performance.”

With Mike Williamson injured, Pardew did not have too many alternatives as he looked to rest Steven Taylor and come up with a new partner for Coloccini.

Dummett was the obvious option, and having watched the youngster at close quarters in training, Pardew is confident central defence will turn out to be his optimum role.

“I think centre-half is his natural position, if I'm honest,” he said. “Young players - for example (Phil) Jones at Man United - need to be introduced sometimes at full-back to understand the game.

“The little tiny nuances of centre-half play - the little nudge in the back, when to read it, when to go - all those things take time. But Paul, on Wednesday, put in a performance that suggests he has read all that now and knows it. I'm sure he will be telling me that over the next couple of days.

“He's an outstanding defender, and he made some fantastic blocks on Wednesday, and that's what he's about. He's kind of Steven Taylor-ish in that respect, and he has a really good mentality for the game. Nothing fazes him, he wants to go and play, and I really, really like him. I think centre-half might be his position.”

Whether Dummett agrees with that long-term assessment remains to be seen, but for now, the academy product is simply happy to have established himself as a fixture in the first team.

“It feels more like I’m part of the squad now because I’m playing regular games this season,” he said. There’s only two games where I haven’t played, and that gives me confidence and belief that I can play against these top players in the Premier League.”