Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has pledged that his side’s preparations and expectations will not drop between now and the end of the season despite all but securing their Premier League survival in midweek after hitting the 40-point mark.
The Magpies recorded a third successive victory with a 1-0 defeat of Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park on Wednesday, opening up a huge 15-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone. However, that was cut to 12 points after Burnley defeated Southampton on Thursday.
Nonetheless, the Magpies are all but safe, yet Howe has declared that his side will not let their standards drop after such a remarkable effort to turn things around.
Next up for Howe’s men is an away trip to basement side Norwich City, and despite the lowly position and quality of Saturday’s opponents he expects the same performance levels from his side, as he revealed in Friday’s pre-match press conference.
He said: “We have a way of playing that has delivered consistent performances. We don't want to let those standards drop and let that feeling go. Not for one second will our preparation drop and our expectations of the players won't drop."
Howe’s verdict represents the changed mentality of the club over the course of the season and is a breath of fresh air for Magpies supporters, but the Tyneside outfit are keen to pick up as many points as possible in order to see where it may take them.
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Newcastle may not be completely mathematically secure from the drop zone, but they are only outside the top half on goal difference and are more than capable of finishing inside the top 10 by the end of the campaign.
That represents the next challenge for Howe’s men, where a top half finish would really cap off their turnaround in fortunes, especially after failing to win any of their first 14 league games.
Tricky away trips to relegation battling Norwich and Burnley come either side of a triple header against three of the Premier League’s top six, as Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal all prepare to take on the Magpies before the season is out.
But up first is Saturday’s trip to Carrow Road, where both teams have had a stark contrast in their seasons since the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the north east back in November, when Teemu Pukki’s 79th minute equaliser denied the hosts their first victory of the season.
Following that game, it looked almost certain that the Magpies would go down and already were in some people’s eyes, as that solitary point left them rooted to the bottom of the league. Now, Norwich are the ones at the foot of the table, while Newcastle are in 11th.
And Howe credits that game as a real turning point in the season as it shows how far they have come since then. He said: "At the time it felt like a missed opportunity for us to get our first win. I was disappointed we couldn't hold the lead because the players gave everything. Maybe it was the first sign of things to come in terms of effort and commitment."
