Cherry on top would be survival

MATT Ritchie feels his move from Bournemouth to Newcastle has been vindicated by the emphatic manner in which the Magpies have almost ensured their Premier League survival.

Newcastle’s stunning 2018 form has seen them rise from the ruins of a relegation battle to putting themselves in the top half of the Premier League table.

United made it four successive wins on Sunday with a 2-1 triumph over Arsenal, with Ritchie grabbing the winner – just like he did in wins over Manchester United and Southampton.

Eyebrows were raised when Ritchie swapped Premier League Bournemouth for the Championship with Newcastle.

But with the Championship title and Premier League survival looking likely, Ritchie feels his decision to swap the South Coast for the North East has been justified.

“I always hoped I would be a part of something like this at Newcastle,” said the 28-year-old.

“When I left Bournemouth, I left with a heavy heart because it was a fantastic spell in my career and I absolutely loved it down there. But this was an opportunity to come to a massive football club with great potential, and I wanted to be a part of that.

“I don’t want to get carried away because by no means have we achieved anything yet. We know that.

“We’ve had a good run, but it’s only about a month ago that we were playing Manchester United and staring at the bottom three. Had we not won that game, we might have been in a different fight. But we did that win that game and we’ve kicked on since then.”

The Magpies travel to Everton on Monday night knowing a win will see them leapfrog the Toffees into ninth place in the Premier League table.

They are just two points off eighth placed Leicester, and finishing in the top eight is now a realistic ambition.

And Ritchie insists the Magpies will continue to push to finish as high as possible.