Eddie Howe has insisted that Newcastle United have to be 'very positive' about their Champions League hopes still being in their hands with just three games to go.
Newcastle remain in third place in the table following Saturday's eventful 2-2 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road. It was a point Newcastle would certainly have taken when Patrick Bamford had the chance to put Leeds 2-0 up from the spot before the half-hour mark. However, Nick Pope made the save to change the momentum of the game and Callum Wilson duly scored a penalty in each half to turn the match on its head.
Newcastle were less than a quarter of an hour away from a priceless three points only for Rasmus Kristensen to equalise with a deflected effort late on, which left the visitors 'disappointed' and 'frustrated' at full-time. However, this may yet prove a valuable result in the long run.
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Given Newcastle's superior goal difference, the black-and-whites know they only need five points from their final three games of the campaign - regardless of results elsewhere. On that subject, Howe plans to watch fifth-placed Liverpool's game against Leicester City on Monday night, but the Newcastle boss stressed it was just for homework purposes ahead of facing the Foxes a week later. Newcastle are very much still focusing on themselves before the visit of Brighton on Thursday night.
"We have to be very positive," Howe told reporters. "We're disappointed not to win. It was a great chance for us with a lead and there not being long left in the match, but we have to accept what happened.
"It's still in our hands. We have three huge games to come. Sometimes you have to take yourself back to the start of the season and what we would have thought. To be in this position now, everyone at the club would have taken that. It's in our hands and we have to be very positive about what's ahead."
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