Eddie Howe is refusing to look at Newcastle United's trip to Tottenham Hotspur as a "free hit" this weekend. The Magpies may well have 31 points in the bag with nine games to go and look on course for safety but the head coach is taking nothing for granted.
On the horizon, they have a less daunting run with the current batch of four away games at Southampton, Chelsea, Everton and Spurs followed by three successive home games coming up. That can all but book their place at football's top table next season but every week Howe is treating the next game in the same important manner as his first in charge at St James' Park.
Howe is as hungry now as he was when he took over Bournemouth in League Two when they were 17 points adrift of safety in 2009 and he laid the foundations for survival and much more for the Cherries. The 44-year-old is as determined now as he was when he guided the South Coast minnows to safety in his first Premier League season in 2016.
