DCSIMG

Newcastle’s Euro bid is still on course – Guthrie

CONFIDENT ... Danny Guthrie.

CONFIDENT ... Danny Guthrie.

By MILES STARFORTH
Published on Monday 20 February 2012 11:15

DANNY Guthrie is adamant Newcastle United’s bid for European football is still on course.

Alan Pardew’s side have had an extended break since their 5-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane because of the FA Cup weekend.

And Guthrie and his team-mates are desperate to put that result behind them when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James’s Park on Saturday.

The Magpies are still sixth in the Premier League table, and Guthrie – who hopes to keep his place despite the availability of Yohan Cabaye and Cheik Tiote – doesn’t believe the result, as painful as it was, has affected their chances of returning to Europe.

“Personally, I’d have liked the next game to have come last weekend,” Guthrie, pictured, told the Gazette.

“You’re still dwelling on it. Obviously, the result wasn’t a good one.

“But we’ve had a bit of rest, and we’ve got a nice home game to look forward to. We’ll look to (bounce back) again. We’ve had time to regroup.

“You never want to lose a game, but it’s one that we could afford to lose with the points we’ve made up. There’s not too much damage done, but the scoreline doesn’t look great.”

United are just a point off the Champions League places, and ahead of big-spending Liverpool going into the last few months of the season.

Guthrie added: “We’re into February now. The run-in will be interesting, and we’ll see where we are with five games to go.”

Third-bottom Wolves sacked manager Mick McCarthy after their last game, a 5-1 defeat to local rivals West Bromwich Albion, and the club hopes to have a new manager in place by the time they visit St James’s Park.

Steve Bruce and Alan Curbishley have been interviewed for the post, and McCarthy’s successor will have the unenviable task of guiding the relegation-threatened club to Premier League safety in the last 13 games of the season.

United faced Queens Park Rangers last month days after Mark Hughes’s appointment, and Pardew’s side came out on top thanks to a goal from Leon Best.

And Guthrie’s confident Newcastle can overcome their next visitors, whoever’s in charge

“We had that a few weeks ago against QPR when Mark Hughes came in,” said the 24-year-old, who grew up in Wolverhampton.

“It always gives them an extra 10 per cent. There’ll have an extra buzz about them, and we’ll have to be careful. We’ve dealt with that this season.

“We’ll have to do the same again. It’s a bit more important now. We’ll have to put that behind us. We want a good win at home to set the next game up.”

Pardew has Cabaye available from suspension and Tiote back from the African Cup of Nations, and Guthrie – who has enjoyed a run in the side over the past month – hopes he has “put a marker down” in recent games.

Asked about the competition for a place in central midfield, Guthrie said: “It’s been like that all season.

“I’ve put my marker down, and the manager’s got choices to make, which has been a bonus for us this season. The competition for places has been part of our recipe for success.”

While Guthrie – who started his footballing career at Manchester United before moving to Liverpool, where he became a professional – spent his formative years in Wolverhampton, he doesn’t have an allegiance to the city’s club.

“I didn’t support or play for them – it’s just another game,” he said.


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