WHAT should have been the perfect occasion for Newcastle United’s club record signing to repair his damaged confidence could well have been the appearance that has destroyed him.

Now turning things around from here on in is likely to be a greater challenge for Joelinton than the rest of his unproductive time on Tyneside.

Whether he is capable or not will be a test of character as much as his ability having now become known as the £40m man who was completely upstaged by the 40-year-old on FA Cup third round day.

Steve Bruce must have hoped that an early January trip to Rochdale, sitting 49 places below their Premier League counterparts in League One, would provide Joelinton with the opposition to finally grab his second goal for the club.

And it should have because during a first half when he was presented – through his own good movement – with a couple of glaring chances his lack of confidence ensured they were both woefully wasted.

The standard of his performance after that deteriorated to a level where he actually resembled more of a nervous schoolboy caught out by the FA Cup magic than a massive Brazilian buy.

And it was left to Aaron Wilbraham, whose first start and senior goal against Manchester City in March 1998 arrived before Joelinton had even turned two, to capitalise on his younger counterpart’s shortcomings by hitting the equaliser that earned Brian Barry-Murphy’s men a replay at St James’ Park.

Joelinton couldn’t control the ball like he did when there were signs of promise in the early part of the campaign and he didn’t play with the belief that things would take a turn for the better. To cap things off, it was his dreadfully misplaced short pass that led to the counter in which Wilbraham levelled with 11 minutes to go.

The boos that greeted that error from the 3,500 away fans at Spotland suggested time is running out for him. Realistically Bruce should have taken him off by that point, even if it meant throwing on the 20-year-old Elias Sorensen because of his lack of alternatives to lead the Newcastle line.

“It is a heavy load. To play for Newcastle United is a heavy load. Full stop,” said Bruce. “There is an expectation on you, and it dawns on your very quickly, when you are the No 9 and with a price-tag then that bears on him.

“He has to keep working at it and he is the same age as Sean Longstaff. He is only a kid. He will learn from this, he will have to get on with it and keep trying. That’s all I can ask. Of course I believe in him, I pick him every week.

“It is an accumulation of what it is. Until he goes and hits the back of the net, goes and wins a game for us again like he did at Spurs, then unfortunately the questions will keep being asked and it snowballs, it goes on and on.

“A bit of confidence, this that and the other. I will keep saying to him that he just has to keep going and hope it will drop for him and he sticks it away. I thought the one he hits with his left foot was a goal and then the game is over. They wouldn’t have got back from there and as long as it was 1-0 it gave them hope.”

Before and after Miguel Almiron had got his second goal for Newcastle in the 17th minute when he controlled and powered beyond goalkeeper Robert Sanchez following Christian Atsu’s direct run and cross, Joelinton should have put the tie to bed.

Firstly his run through the heart of the Rochdale line created an opening 20 yards from goal which summed him up right now. He had the time and space to at least find the target and he failed to connect properly and the ball trickled harmlessly wide.

The former Hoffenheim man also headed over an Isaac Hayden cross when he was left unmarked, while the most difficult of his three major chances saw him turn with his back to goal and direct a left foot shot towards the bottom corner but Sanchez turned it behind.

During that period Newcastle completely controlled things and former Hartlepool loan man Barry-Murphy admitted afterwards that the pace of the men in orange caught them out, which was why he moved to replace Tyler Magloire with Luke Matheson before half-time.

Right-back Matheson, the 17-year-old who scored at Manchester United in the Carabao Cup in September, was exceptional from the moment he thwarted the lively Atsu’s advances in both a defensive and attacking sense.

Then, after a couple of Yoshinori Muto efforts were saved too, the introduction of the towering Wilbraham frame at the interval turned the game in Rochdale’s favour. Having seen the impressive midfielder Oliver Rathbone denied a few times by Martin Dubravka, the stage was set for the story of the veteran FA Cup hero.

With 11 minutes remaining, and not long after Bruce had turned away in frustration and anger as Joelinton headed a routine ball up to him on halfway for a throw, the Newcastle striker’s pass to Matty Longstaff near the Rochdale box missed its target.

Rochdale broke. Matheson’s excellent overlap earned him the chance to cross into the area where Wilbraham’s attempt to control and finish dropped kindly for him and he hammered beyond Dubravka to level against the club he has a soft spot for.

“I do and I think it’s because of the fanbase really,” said Wilbraham. “They are a passionate city and they love their football. I was looking over at them from the bench first half and there was about seven geezers with their tops off.

“I knew how loud they’d be and I just think it’s always been a good footballing city. I’ve always admired them for that. I liked Alan Shearer when he was playing, Peter Beardsley. It came from then.

“I’m the DJ in the dressing room at the moment. The boys call me Peter Pan because I am one of the young boys and I do have that rapport with the young lads that I can stay on a level with them. All This Love That I’m Giving by Gwen McCrae, that’s always the first one I bang on after a good result. If you just play the same song every time after a result, it programmes the brain.”

Bruce will be hoping the love that he is giving to Joelinton will eventually pay off, but he can’t wait forever which is why he has showed an interest in AC Milan’s Krzysztof Piatek and Roma’s Nikola Kalinic of late, for an alternative as much as anything.

Joelinton might still get another chance in the replay because Newcastle still have another opportunity to progress to the fourth round, having failed to do that seven times since Mike Ashley became owner in 2007.

Bruce, who has had a lengthy injury list to contend with, hopes to have a number of sidelined players back by then. Federico Fernandez, for example, was playing alongside full-back Emile Krafth and midfielder Hayden in a back three at Rochdale.

Fernandez said: “It felt really good in the first half, we were doing well even with so many players out. We need to recover now and make sure we are all fit, then it is up to the manager to decide on the individuals he plays in the next games.

“We can still go through in the FA Cup and we still want to do well in the Premier League, that is the positive and we have to remember that even if we feel disappointed now. We didn’t win this game but we didn’t lose. We now have to recover and we will be ready”

After all, as Bruce said, at least Newcastle didn’t lose to bloody Rochdale.