UP UP AND HOWAY
Ritchie has top-10 spot his sights after revival in
MATT RITCHIE says that Newcastle are targeting a top-10 finish for the second season in a row.
Rafa Benitez’s side have pulled themselves six points clear of the relegation zone following back-toback wins.
Ritchie says Newcastle head for West Ham tomorrow looking up the table rather than over their shoulders.
The Magpies are two points better off than they were at the same stage 12 months ago despite going 10 league games without a win from the start of the campaign.
Four successive wins at St James’ Park, the arrival of £21m Miguel Almiron and growing optimism that
Benitez will sign a new deal have brought back a feel-good factor.
Now Ritchie wants his side to kick on.
“The work doesn’t stop just because we have given ourselves a bit of breathing space,” said the
Toon wing-back.
“No-one really believed me back in August when I said our aim was to finish higher than last season.
“We had a fantastic year but everyone was telling us we over-achieved.
“Within this group we didn’t think that. The league table doesn’t lie and we deserved it.
“But every year, the aim is to improve on the previous one and it’s definitely on.
“I am not getting carried away because there are some tough games ahead but if we keep performing the way we have been, then we can carry on climbing the table.”
Ritchie pinpoints January’s shock win over champions Manchester City as the result which sparked the revival.
“It was big at the time but looking back, it’s proved massive,” he said. “Since then, we’ve strung together five or six really good performances. “That’s what we needed and we always thought we had it within us. “I never doubted this group of lads because we’ve done it before.
“We keep getting written off. Ever since I’ve been at the club, people have being saying ‘they are not strong enough’ but they’re wrong. “Okay, so we don’t have what you’d describe as world-beaters but we’ve got strong characters, a fair bit of quality and the competition for places that you need to do well.
“Everyone can now see the confi– dence within the group and the way the lads want to help each other.”
Ritchie has warned that Newcastle have teams like West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton in their sights “You have to be optimistic,” he said. “You look at the table at those teams ahead of us and think it’s on, we can catch them.
“But at the same time, we certainly have our feet on the floor. The lads know the job’s not done. “We’re on 31 points and that is not enough. We must reach 40 as soon as we can and build on that.”