Tiote eyes Europe, and not just the Europa League!

Cheik Tiote has issued a rallying call to his Newcastle United team-mates and has urged them to build on a run of three wins in a row as they aim for Europe.

Tiote returned to the starting line up against Liverpool at the weekend and put in a great performance as team brushed aside Kenny Dalglish's men.

However he has warned that all of the hard work will be undone if Newcastle fail to keep winning their games and miss out on Europe, whether that be the Europa League or Champions League though is something that Tiote is still unsure of.

“The first target is obviously the Europa League, but why shouldn’t we be thinking about the Champions League as well? Who knows, it could happen," Tiote told The Journal.

He continued: “We cannot be worried about what the teams around us are doing – we just have to concentrate on ourselves and try to win. If we win every game between now and the end of the season, it will not matter what the other teams do.”

High hopes indeed from our Ivory Coast international, but essentially he is right in what he is saying. It's just improbable...

Moving on, and Tiote was quick to praise the good position the club find themselves in before underlining the importance of qualifying for Europe.

“We have got ourselves into a good position, but any talk about Europe will mean nothing if we don’t keep winning between now and the end of the season. Getting into Europe is the biggest thing for us now and it is very important for us as players and for Newcastle as a club," he said.

“It has been a long time since we have seen Newcastle in European competitions and we want that to change. It will be a big thing for us to play in Europe next season.”

Indeed it will be a big thing. I know some people aren't exactly chomping at the bit to be in the Europa League and are concerned at how the extra games and travelling will affect us, but I'm not concerned about it. Well, I am, but I'd rather us be in it in the first place. I honestly don;t see how it can be a bad thing.

The good thing is that the players seem fired up for the run in, plus the fact they seem to be playing with confidence at the moment. if they can keep this run of form going on a bit longer then who knows what could happen?

Which will make the last seven games of the season interesting to say the least!