Hughton won't set points goal

Mar 17 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

CHRIS Hughton believes it is futile for him to set Newcastle United a safety points target, as the Premier League is proving more unpredictable than ever this season.

With at least nine teams battling to stay out of the bottom three with nine games left to play, Newcastle’s failure to beat Hull City at the weekend was another setback for their survival bid.

However, although the Magpies failed to win another of their “must-win” games, the draw at the KC Stadium was still enough to move them up once place in the table above Stoke City, who they play on April 11.

As a result, Hughton is adamant there is no point him talking about how many points the Magpies need from their remaining games as the situation is constantly changing at the bottom of the table.

“I think another 15 points will definitely be enough, but what we haven’t got is numbers in our minds,” said Hughton, who is feeling the strain of the relegation battle as much as anyone at St James’s Park.

“We’ve had a look at each game. We went into the Hull game hoping to get three points and we have to hope results go for us. All we can do is win as many games as we can and not worry about anyone else.

“We’ve got a draw against Hull which we are unhappy about. People felt we had to get a win, but we still went up one place in the table and that’s how the league is. The way we’ve got to look at is there are nine games left and a lot of points to be won.”

United have two tough home games to navigate against Arsenal and Chelsea before they face Stoke, with attention also focused on the supposedly winnable home games against Fulham, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough.

Nevertheless, nothing can be taken for granted.