Eddie Howe has admitted that Newcastle United were 'strapped in to go the whole distance' - but the Magpies now look set to avoid an effective relegation play-off against Burnley on the final day following a remarkable turnaround.
It has not been mathematically confirmed just yet, but Newcastle are about to become the first Premier League outfit in history to stay up despite failing to win any of their opening 14 games this season. Newcastle are currently flying high in ninth place ahead of the visit of Liverpool to St James' Park on Saturday after picking up 43 points this season.
To put that turnaround into perspective, Newcastle were languishing in 19th as recently as mid-January. The mid-season arrivals of Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett have undoubtedly helped, but the work ethic and togetherness fostered by Howe and his staff at the training ground have seen a host of inherited players make real strides, too.
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In fact, only Man City, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal have picked up more points than Newcastle since Howe took over a winless side drained of confidence last November. As a result, with the luxury of four games to go, Newcastle were not even mentioned when Jamie Carragher not only discussed the relegation dogfight on Monday Night Football but, also, those teams like Crystal Palace who have dropped off in the run-in.
Newcastle, in contrast, have won each of their last four Premier League games for the first time since 2018 and Howe is continuing to push his players to finish the season strongly as they fight for their futures at the club. However, to be all but safe with time to spare was something even Howe could not have envisaged not so long ago when the Newcastle boss may have needed to get something against relegation-threatened Burnley at Turf Moor on the last day to stay up.
"We were strapped in to go the whole distance," the Newcastle head coach told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We felt our best chance was probably going to be to hang in there and try and fight for the last day to stay in the division.
"That's how far back we were so to be in this position now is maybe something we didn't expect, but we're delighted to be where we are."
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