Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has challenged his squad to better their Premier League points tally from last season.
With 25 points in the bag from 20 games, Bruce wants his players to repeat their performance levels in the second half of the campaign and if they can achieve such a feat they would be five points better off than last term.
Bruce watched his side end their eight-game unbeaten run with a narrow defeat against Everton at St James' Park.
After the game he said: "We’re halfway.
"It’s the first time we’ve suffered back-to-back defeats since August, so let’s dust ourselves down and get ready for Wednesday, and get ready for the challenge of the second half of the season.
"Let’s try to repeat it if we can.
"Let’s try to accumulate the same amount of points if we can, and see where that takes us."
Last season a 50-point tally was enough to earn Watford an 11th placed finish in the Premier League with the Hornets finishing two places above Rafa Benitez's Newcastle.
Bruce is confident that more good results can follow providing injuries clear up in the treatment room.
He said: "I think it was important we didn’t lose the match, and unfortunately we have.
"It’s the first time we’ve lost back-to-back since August, that’s the disappointing thing.
"I hope in 2020 we’ll have a little bit better luck with injuries.
"We’ve had some big players missing – the captain, Matt Ritchie and Allan Saint-Maximin.
"I hope we can stay a bit more injury-free at the turn of the new year and I think we can still move forward."
