Joe Willock has helped to fire Newcastle United a step closer to Premier League safety after scoring the winner for Steve Bruce's men against West Ham.
The midfielder, who is on loan at Newcastle from Arsenal, scored his third goal for the Magpies as he came off the bench to net the winning goal in a 3-2 victory against West Ham, with the hosts claiming all three points against the ten-man Hammers, despite David Moyes' side fighting back from two goals down.
This is not the first time he has made a telling impact off the bench for Newcastle, with Willock scoring the equaliser for the Mapgies against Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham earlier this month.
And now, after helping the Mapgies move nine points clear of the relegation zone with his late winner against West Ham, Willock has spoken about his recent contributions and his belief that Newcastle will be safe this season.
“I’m happy to help the team again," he said, speaking to Sky Sports.
"I thought the boys played well, we sat a bit deep in the second-half and I thought they came onto us. I was happy to come on and score the winner.
“The first touch was a bit rusty, but I’ve been working on my headers so I’m happy it’s paid off.
“You can see the way we’re playing, we’re getting involved in games a lot more than we were before. We’re controlling games more, we’re having more opportunities. I think today we showed what we could do. If we play like this, then we’ll be safe for sure.
“Everyone is buying into what the manager wants to do, everyone is trying to play their part, push each other, whether you’re on the bench or not in the squad. I feel like collectively we’ve grown and through the hard times, we decided we needed to stick together.
“We’re taking every game as it comes. We want to keep pushing, and if we play like that, then I feel like we’ll be safe.”
Willock is on loan at Newcastle until the end of the season having signed for the Magpies in January, with the 21-year-old expected to return to Arsenal in the summer.
