Sawt Falasteen - Howe urges Newcastle to fulfil Champions League expectation

Howe's side sit fourth in the Premier League with three games left to secure the top five finish that guarantees a place in Europe's elite club competition.

Newcastle can take a major step towards that target with a win against fifth-placed Chelsea at St James' Park on Sunday.

The Magpies are ahead of Chelsea only by virtue of goals scored, with Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa also engaged in the scrap for a top five place.

Some Newcastle fans might already be satisfied with the season after winning the League Cup final against Liverpool to end the club's 56-year trophy drought.

But asked if that Wembley triumph had lifted the pressure off Newcastle, Howe told reporters: "We feel an expectation, certainly internally, to try to deliver Champions League football.

"It was an expectation that we placed upon ourselves, so I get what you're trying to say, but I don't necessarily feel that way internally.

"Winning the cup final, I think, gave us a freedom and a new-found confidence off the back of achieving that. That gave us a bounce in the next few games. We elevated our performance off the back of that.

"But that feels like it was, in football terms, quite a while ago.

"Now we have to focus on these last three games knowing, for me, just how good the team can be. We have to set our expectations very high."

Howe believes Newcastle will have to produce one of their best performances this season if they are to secure a vital victory over UEFA Conference League finalists Chelsea.

Calling on his players to emulate their dynamic League Cup final display against Liverpool, Howe said: "I think we'll have to go close to that kind of performance in order to win.

"Chelsea gave us one of our toughest games of the season at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. I thought they were excellent and I think they've started to re-capture that form in their recent games.

"Enzo Maresca is a very good manager. He's very clever with what he does with the style of play that they possess, and they've got really good attacking players that can hurt us if we're not right."

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST