The penalty miss which cast a 'dark cloud' over Newcastle striker dubbed the 'new Alan Shearer'

Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra admits he suffered with the 'dark cloud' of missing a penalty on his black-and-white debut.

The Magpies were knocked out of the League Cup by Everton in November 2002 following a 3-3 draw after extra-time.

Kevin Campbell headed the visitors in front, but a quickfire double from Kieron Dyer in the second half put the Magpies ahead.

Steve Watson equalised against his former side to send the third-round tie into extra-time.

Former United defender Alessandro Pistone then scored an own-goal, but this was cancelled out by a David Unsworth penalty.

The six-goal thriller went to a penalty shootout, and Richard Wright denied Hugo Viana and Laurent Robert from the spot.

However, it was debutant Chopra who sealed United's cup exit when he blazed his penalty over the bar.

For a promising Academy prospect who had already begun to make a name for himself, it was a setback the striker now admits he struggled to recover from.

Chopra told FourFourTwo: "I was a Geordie striker who had done well at youth-team level, so suddenly I was being called the new Alan Shearer. That felt like quite a weight on my shoulders, because the club wasn't producing too much homegrown talent at the time.

"When I began to score a few goals, everyone started taking notice. From a fairly young age, I'd be recognised in the street - I was a bit of a local celebrity. Did I like that? I loved it.

"Once I'd made my League Cup debut against Everton [in November 2002] and missed the crucial penalty in the shootout, it drained me of confidence. I was naturally a bright, bubbly guy going into every game, thinking I was the best thing since sliced bread.

Sir Bobby Robson consoles Michael Chopra following his penalty miss in Newcastle United's penalty shootout defeat to Everton on November 6, 2002 (Iain Buist)

"Now I had to cope with the feeling of letting lots of people down - a far cry from the Newcastle debut I'd dreamt about. I had to rebuild myself, but that penalty hung over me like a dark cloud.

"In hindsight, it affected my Newcastle career."

Loan spells at Watford, Nottingham Forest, and Barnsley followed, and Chopra would score just once for Newcastle before completing a permanent move to Cardiff City in 2006.