DeAndre Yedlin has hit out at Newcastle United's critics and claimed they “want this club to fail.”
The USA defender reckons Steve Bruce's men are under a magnified spotlight, but will prove they are not relegation fodder every season.
Owner Mike Ashley and Bruce have both faced flack in the last few months but consecutive wins have lifted United out of the danger zone.
Yedlin said: "For whatever reason, this club’s in, I don’t want to say the spotlight, but I get the feeling that people want this club to fail, for some reason.
"I think we can prove them wrong, and it is quite a good feeling – not in the sense that we’re proving them wrong, but proving the fans and supporters that believe in us right.
"It’s good for them, and for us. We’re not this relegation team every year that everybody seems to think we are.”
Newcastle risk losing England U20 midfielder Matty Longstaff for just £400,000 unless he signs a new deal in the next month.
The youngster is in contract talks with Newcastle and is close to agreeing a pay rise as reward for becoming a first team player this season – including scoring the Goal of the Month winner against Manchester United .
Longstaff junior plays in Portugal for England youth this week in a game that will attract European sides knowing he can be pinched for minimal compensation because his deal ends this season.
Both brothers, however, are keen to stay on Tyneside.
Sean signed a new deal until 2022 last December before his first team breakthrough, and he wants another to reflect his emergence as a regular starter.
But Newcastle chiefs will not match his representatives demands to become one of the top earners, and want him to prove himself again this season before continuing talks.
