Danny Guthrie warns rivals they face defeat

Feb 19 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Guthrie acknowledged Newcastle’s football has lacked cohesion and penetration away from home as they look to grind out results on the road.

However, for all of the optimism generated by the big wins over Cardiff and Coventry, he believes it is the team’s resilience and durability which will get them back in to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He said: “It helps being at home. Our pitch is good and it’s big, we’ve also got our fans behind us and that helps us play a more expansive game.

“It proved that we can go out and ‘Total Football’ teams, but there are still going to be games, especially away from home against the so called lesser teams, when we are going to have to grind it out and win whatever way we can. Performances like that (Cardiff and Coventry) give you a massive confidence boost, but the flip side of it is that Nottingham Forest and West Brom are capable of grinding victories out. That’s what it is like in this division.”

Newcastle’s lead over third-placed Forest stands at five points with a game in hand, although Guthrie insisted Newcastle will continue to focus on what they are doing rather than the chasing pack.

He added: “We’re the ones in pole position and if we go out and do our job we’ll be fine. We’ll always have an eye on their results, but we know our destiny is in our own hands. If we keep winning they can’t catch us, it’s as simple as that. It’s all about us.” Meanwhile, Peter Løvenkrands has declared himself Newcastle’s new spot kick maestro after beating off competition from Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll.

Lovenkrands converted United’s third goal against Coventry from 12 yards after another dynamic run from Wayne Routledge was halted in the area for his ninth goal of the campaign.

He said: “We’d had a wee chat in training between myself, Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan about who was going to take the penalties, but they couldn’t really take it off me once I had it.”