Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe remains confident that his side can beat the drop this season despite their recent form and current position in the Premier League.
The Magpies faced Watford in a relegation six-pointer over the weekend and surrendered a 1-0 lead with just three minutes to go, as Joao Pedro’s equaliser ensured the points were shared between the two sides.
The result leaves Newcastle in 19th and two points off the Hornets in 17th, where a win on Saturday would have seen them climb out of the relegation zone and leapfrog their opponents.
And Watford have another huge game against Burnley on Tuesday, who are a point and a place behind the Magpies, and so a draw is the best possible outcome for Howe’s men.
But despite the outcome of that fixture, the former Bournemouth manager remains optimistic that his side can avoid the drop.
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Despite a number of teams above the bottom four not officially safe by any means, it does look as though Watford, Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley will be the four teams fighting to stay up this season.
And all four teams need to pick up points fast.
Unfortunately for the Magpies, Watford could increase the gap between the two to five points should they beat Burnley on Tuesday.
However, the Clarets also have three games in hand on Newcastle, so have more than one opportunity to get themselves back above Howe’s side.
Yet the 44-year-old remains confident that his side can still beat the drop, despite the effects of throwing away two points against Watford at St. James’ Park on Saturday.
Following the draw, Howe said: “We know that we’ve damaged ourselves to a point.
"But you always have an opportunity.
"At this moment in time, we’re into the second half of the season, and we still have a chance to bounce back from it.”
The Magpies still have 18 games to play, but they don’t want to spend the majority of that trying to play catch up to Watford.
And that is certainly a possibility considering they also play another relegation rival in Norwich on Friday, meaning they play twice this week before Newcastle do.
And should they win both games, the Hornets could be eight points clear of the Magpies by the time Howe and co travel to Leeds on Saturday.
But Newcastle’s manager knows they need to instill belief and confidence going into the rest of their games if they are to pull off a great escape.
He said: "I think the only way you can build that is to get over the line and win, and we did that against Burnley recently.
"I hoped that would be the catalyst for an improvement in that phase of our play, but vs Watford we didn’t get over the line."
