NEWCASTLE boss Sir Bobby Robson last night admitted that his players were "distraught'' after their crushing Champions League exit.

The Magpies' failure to qualify for the competition proper has cost them a £12m windfall.

That is certain to impact on Robson's spending plans in the transfer market, but he insisted: "I'm not thinking about money, I'm thinking about the disappointment. The lads are distraught.

"To lose on penalties is cruel, but we took bad penalties; we missed four of our of seven.

"We missed the first three and yet we were still in it.

"But I have to compliment our opponents. They fought like tigers and played better than they did in the first game.

"We have to forget about the Champions League and just hope that, in the UEFA Cup, we can give our supporters something to shout about.''

Partizan coach Lothar Matthaus said: "We had the better chances and more of the game. I think we deserved the win, but there's always luck involved in penalty shoot-outs.

"We knew it would be hard. Newcastle have a great team and great players and we knew we would have to play well.

"After the first game in Belgrade, I told the players they could still go through.

"I can imagine Sir Bobby will be very disappointed, but he's done a lot in football and I think Newcastle can still do well this season.''

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