Bruce hoping Magpies
Steve Bruce has insisted matching last season’s Premier League points tally would not represent success for Newcastle – but it would be “acceptable”.
The Magpies head into today’s home clash with Arsenal having significantly eased their relegation fears with two wins and two draws in their last four games, and with Bruce looking to equal, if not better, the 44 points and 13th place his side managed at the end of the last campaign.
That has helped them regain someofthegroundtheylost during a confidence-sapping 19-match run which yielded just two victories and thrust them into the thick of a survival battle with injuries and Covid19 severely limiting the underpressure head coach’s options.
Asked what hitting his target would mean, Bruce replied: “Look, it’s not a success, but with the problems we’ve had…
“We’ve been in the bottom half of the division now for a number of years. If we can match last year, where we got to, then I think we would all accept that would be, considering the problems we’ve had, acceptable.
“Can we finish above where we did last year? I doubt it, but considering the problems we’ve had this year, then I would be delighted if we could get there.”
The only blemish in the last eight fixtures is a 3-0 defeat at
Brighton on March 20 in which Newcastle turned in an abject display, although that appears to have served as something of a watershed.
Bruce said: “Certainly when you throw in the horror show at Brighton, then you have to have a response and all of them have responded in a positive way to say, ‘Look, we weren’t good enough on the night and we’ve got to be better than that if we’re going to stay in this division’.”
The latest point was hardearned as the Magpies struck late through substitute Joe Willock – his third goal from the bench in as many appearances – to deny reigning champions Liverpool victory at Anfield last Saturday.
It is not the first time they have shown a gritty resilience this season – indeed, 13 of their 36 league goals have come inside the final 10 minutes of games, nine of them in or after the 85th minute.
Bruce said: “It’s quite remarkable that we have the ability to hang on in there, but it gives everybody a lift to get a result against a big, big team.”
Mikel Arteta takes his Arsenal side to Tynside, but has conceded it is Thursday night’s clash with Villarreal that will make or break their season.
With the Gunners already 12 points adrift of the top four heading into the weekend, their chances of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2017 appear slim.
However, they can make it back to the elite level of continental football if they can win the Europa League.
They take on Villarreal in the second leg of their semi-final on Thursday having lost the away leg 2-1 in Spain.
And Arteta now admits that the Europa League semi is the “crucial moment” of the campaign.
“The Premier League is the competition where it is not in our hands to achieve what we wanted to do, as there are other teams in front of us,” he said.
“The only thing we can control is our performances and results and this is our main focus. Then we know that the semi-final isthecrucialmomentofthe season.”
Arsenal loanee Willock will be ineligible against his parent club but, with Newcastle in better form than their visitors, Arteta is expecting a tough test at
St James’ Park.
“From the position they’re in they’re going to come at us,” added Arteta.
“They’re a really organised team, they’ve been playing much better recently so it will be tough.
“The amount of games that we are playing, every team has the capacity to make it difficult for you.
“Let’s see who is available. We had a really demanding game again, the boys have had so many minutes so we will assess them in the training session and see how everyone is, and try to get the line-up right.
“It would be helpful if we can get a good result.”