Matt Targett has admitted he is relishing the chance of leapfrogging Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Victory in West London this weekend would see Newcastle overtake the Bees and climb as high as 14th in the table - despite having two games in hand on their opponents.
Thomas Frank’s outfit looked on course to become the top flight's surprise package earlier in the campaign. However, a nosedive in form has seen his side win just once - while losing eight - in their last 10 games.
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Magpies loanee Targett has been looking up the table rather than over his shoulder since the moment he arrived on Tyneside last month.
“Ever since I've come in, I've always been looking at the teams above us,” he told NUFC TV.
“I think with the group of players we've got here we should be climbing the table and Saturday is a big chance to do that. Hopefully we can but we know it's going to be a very tough game.”
The left-back has already tasted defeat at the Brentford Community Stadium this season.
A 2-1 defeat on January 2 was one of Targett’s last games in an Aston Villa shirt but he is hoping to put that experience to good use on Saturday.
“They (Brentford) can be a very dangerous team,” he added. “They are direct into Ivan Toney, who is a handful on his day, so we've got to take care of that and set pieces because they're a big threat from set-pieces. It’s going to be a very tough game.”
Targett believes other clubs in the relegation mix will be fearful of a resurgent Newcastle side - who are unbeaten in their last six Premier League outings.
Eddie Howe has inspired a new belief into the Magpies squad, with the table looking a lot healthier than it did just a few weeks ago.
“I think all the teams are looking down and thinking we're probably the most in-form team out of the bunch down there. They know we're on a good run, but we can't get complacent and we've got to carry on doing what we're doing.”
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