A PLACE among the Premier League’s elite is up for grabs provided Newcastle United’s owners seize the moment next month, according to Jeff Stelling.

He admits he is bloated on humble pie after the Magpies’ surprise start to the campaign, and thinks the key to maintaining their lofty standing will be supporting manager Alan Pardew in the transfer market.

That does not just mean reinforcing a thin squad, but keeping the players who have taken the team to such dizzy heights.

In particular he sees midfield enforcer Cheick Tioté as “priceless”, and with memories still fresh of Andy Carroll’s £35m deadline-day sale to Liverpool, Stelling realises it is vital history does not repeat itself at St James’ Park.

“The surprise package of the Premier League? Not half!” he says.

“It’s fantastic for Newcastle and all the cynics – and I was definitely one – have been made to eat our words. I’m over-flowing with humble pie.

“There’s a number of reasons for it. The first thing is for the early part of the season they had that rock-solid back five.

“Tim Krul has been magnificent, and Steven Taylor was fantastic until he got injured.

“They just look to have such a well-drilled side defensively, and that gave them a platform to build on. They had to do without Cheick Tioté for a while and they coped quite well.

“At the other end of the field they’ve got Demba Ba, and Leon Best initially did really well too. The other thing for Newcastle is their work ethic. Everybody works their socks off, no one more so than Jonás Gutiérrez.”

If Newcastle’s form has made Stelling feel a little sheepish at times, he can rest assured he is in good company.

Free transfer signing Demba Ba has made mugs of plenty of Premier League managers who turned their noses up at a striker who has already scored 14 goals this season.

“Demba Ba had a great goalscoring record at Hoffenheim and at West Ham, and since he came to England his record for staying injury-free has been very good too.