Eddie Howe has stressed Newcastle United do not feel like they are being 'hunted' after Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp suggested the Magpies would be 'happy' if the Reds were not chasing them down.
Newcastle are currently a point clear of Liverpool in third place, with a game in hand to boot, ahead of a huge match against high-flying Brighton at St James' Park on Thursday night. Newcastle drew 2-2 against Leeds United last time out, but the black-and-whites know their fate remains in their own hands and Howe's side will qualify for the Champions League if they win two of their final three fixtures of the campaign against Brighton, Leicester City and Chelsea.
Although Klopp conceded it was 'more likely' Newcastle would finish in the top four, the Liverpool manager claimed that Newcastle would be 'happy if we would not be there any more' after the Reds won seven games in a row to close the gap. However, Howe does not see it that way.
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"I don't feel like we're being hunted," Howe told reporters. "I don't feel that emotion. It's us against ourselves, really. That's how I see it. It's us trying to be the best we can be. I've not focused on any other team all season.
"In my experience, I knew Liverpool were never far away because they are a top team and they are capable of going on runs of wins. They are very similar to Manchester City where they can win a group of games without blinking. They have got that experience. For us, we can't look at Liverpool or compare ourselves to Liverpool. We just have to look at us."
On that point, Newcastle have won eight of their last 11 games ahead of the visit of Brighton to St James'. While Howe acknowledged it would be a 'really tough assignment', after Brighton ended Arsenal's title challenge at the weekend with a superb 3-0 win at the Emirates, the Magpies boss added 'we're not fearful'. After all, not only have Brighton suffered defeats against relegation-threatened Everton and Nottingham Forest in recent weeks - Newcastle will be roared on by a vociferous home support under the lights.
You can see why Howe has stayed calm and made things 'very simple and clear' to his players this week without 'radically trying something different'. The Newcastle head coach went as far as to say there should be 'no pressure on us at all because we have come from nowhere'. This is a position Howe certainly would have taken if you had offered the 45-year-old it at the start of the campaign.
“Snapped your arm off is the phrase that I use," he added. "I don't know if that is the right one, but we weren't there. At the start of the season, when you take yourself back, I sat in this room and said it was about making sure we weren't fighting relegation.
“It was making sure we had evolved and improved the team enough to be stable in the Premier League and then we were looking to grow the team in maybe the following seasons. Well, we've certainly surpassed that.
"Now we're in a position where we have three games and to take that position at the start of the season, where it's in your control, that means everything. At this moment in time, then, the hard bit is, of course, to get over the line and win the games, but that's what we will try to do."
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