Guthrie: Our job is not finished yet

May 14 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

DANNY Guthrie has warned Newcastle United would be making a terrible mistake to assume they are already safe from relegation as they prepare for the arrival of Fulham this weekend.

United’s tremendous 3-1 win over Middlesbrough on Monday night lifted them out of the bottom three for the first time in more than a month, but they still have plenty to worry about this season.

Guthrie argued the Magpies need to beat Fulham on Saturday and hope Hull City lose at Bolton to be certain of their top-flight survival, and the midfielder is wary of letting the euphoria of a first home win since December distract them.

“It was the most important result of my career,” said Guthrie, whose delivery from set-pieces was a constant threat against Middlesbrough on his return to the starting line up in place of the suspended Joey Barton.

“It was a big win, but we can’t get too carried away because we have another massive game against Fulham to concentrate on now. We will enjoy the moment because we haven’t had much to celebrate this season, but then it’s back to business.

“The biggest mistake we could make now is to think we are already safe because we probably have just as big a game against Fulham on Saturday. We haven’t achieved anything yet.

“It’s great to finally get that winning feeling because it’s been a long time, and hopefully we can go out and win our remaining two games, but the first thing is to win on Saturday and hopefully that will be enough to make sure we are safe.

“It was a great feeling in the dressing room after the game. There were some great performances out there and it’s fantastic to get the win which lifts us out of the bottom three, because we’ve been in there for too long. Now it’s about staying out.”

Although Alan Shearer’s first win as manager unleashed something special at St James’s Park on Monday, instantly transforming the atmosphere on Tyneside, Guthrie acknowledged it was just one good result at the end of a dismal run of results which led Newcastle to the

relegation precipice. But, having finally regained that winning feeling, Guthrie hopes Newcastle can put a dreadful season behind them and start to plan for a better future with Shearer at the helm.

He explained: “We have never stopped believing, but it has been extremely tough at times. Some of the lads look at the table, others try and ignore it, but as long as it was possible to get out of it we believed we could.