Forget City, this is more important READING ARE HERE AND WE MUST DO A GOOD JOB: RAJIV
NEWCASTLE United midfielder Jack Colback is “irritated” by the good form of Town.
The gap between the automatic promotion spots and the chasing pack has been cut in recent weeks.
And David Wagner’s side’s success has not gone unnoticed by the former Sunderland man.
“It’s getting irritating now, actually,” the midfielder told the Chronicle when asked about the chasing pack led by Town.
“Of course you have a look at the other results, they are a part of the competition, you’re going to have a look after games. But we obviously focus on ourselves first.
“We know that we’ve put ourselves in a position where if we keep winning games or stay unbeaten and are consistent, then we’ll go up so we will focus on that first and foremost.
“The gap (to the play-off places) obviously was a bit more healthy, they have closed the gap, credit to them because they keep winning games, but we’ve got to play everyone around us. It’s in our own hands.” Newcastle hosted Aston Villalast night. Town host Reading tonight and Colback knows Newcastle cannot let up if they wish to achieve automatic promotion.
“I think we have just been consistent,” he said. “We have obviously had setbacks but have always reacted to them well. We’ve never really suffered many consecutive defeats or had a spell where we have not won a game for a while.
“It has probably never been longer than two or three games max. Villa and Norwich have been through longer spells when they have not won a game.”
The midfielder - affectionately known as the ‘ginger Pirlo’ by the Toon Army - went on to suggest clubs like Newcastle and Aston Villa have more pressure on them. RAJIV VAN LA PARRA says that while a replay at Manchester City in the FA Cup is great, the home league meeting with Reading is much more important right now.
Town drew 0-0 against City at the John Smith’s Stadium in the fifth round of the Cup, earning a replay at the Etihad next week.
However, third-placed Town tackle fourthplaced Reading with chance to put even more pressure on the top two.
Van La Parra said: “For us this is a really important game, and I think that is why the manager made a lot of changes.
“We treat every game the same that we are playing in, but if you look at the Championship table then Tuesday is a bigger game for us and more important.”
On the game against City, van La Parra believes Town deserved a replay just for the manner of the performance the team put in against the Premier League giants.
He said: “We were playing against one of the biggest teams in English football and got a great result against them.
“I think we played really well and we earned a replay. It will give us great confidence that we can hold them to a 0-0 draw.
“You know if you are coming up against Man City, you are coming up against some quality players.
“You have to step up your game and one bad touch is all it takes for them to intercept the ball and create a chance from nothing.
“It is like the manager always says to us, it doesn’t matter who we play, or what the weather is like or what condition the pitch is in.
“All that matters is we do the same things we have been doing.
“Everyone can see that it works and it works against the big teams like Man City too.
“We had some chances in that game, but they also created chances and made it difficult for us.
“When we play them away it will be a much tougher game, and everyone will need to be on their game again.”
With Town’s gruelling fixture list continuing in a Saturday, Tuesday turnaround, it may mean injuries, and possible suspensions, could affect selection.
However, van La Parra is not worried about the tough schedule and says Town’s head coach David Wagner is doing the right thing by rotating the squad.
“It is good to see that when he makes changes, it doesn’t effect the team and we are still as strong as we were before,” he commented.
“I think it is good that we have a big, quality squad. That means the manager can make those changes when needed to freshen the squad up.”