Bruno Guimaraes: We are still fighting for European football

Newcastle United ended their run of defeats with a win over an unlikely opponent on Saturday, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 at St James' Park.

I had said in my coverage of Chris Sutton's prediction that all runs have to come to an end and Newcastle needed to end three on Saturday - the run of defeats in the Premier League, the end of Danny Welbeck's scoring streak against Newcastle and the Magpies' terrible record against Brighton ... and they did it.

Let's be honest, though, it was far from pretty, and Newcastle rode their luck at times. The scoreline is very flattering to a Newcastle team who were terrible for much of the second half - seriously, I know I say this almost every week, but what does Eddie Howe say to these lads at half time to take all the wind out of their sails?

Nick Pope was desperate to hand Brighton some points. His distribution and decision-making were the stuff of nightmares, but then he goes and makes a couple of top-class saves. I just can't work him out.

I'd also pointed out Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy and Dan Burn being in the side before kick-off as being a negative, and all three were involved in the first two goals, so my apologies there.

Bruno: We must win our last three games 

Bruno Guimaraes has been back in the starting line-up for two games. We looked much better last week against Arsenal and won this week. I'm not saying we're a one-man team, but we're definitely something close.

The captain spoke after the game (via Sussex World), and while he was honest enough to admit Brighton were the better team for much of the game, he's now got his eyes on Europe again.

"It felt very good. In the changing room before he game, we knew today was important for us, chasing European football for next season. The points are crucial, we keep dreaming and believing.

"It was a tough game, Brighton are a good team. Today, for everything we have done, we deserve the win.

"They had a lot of chances. In the first half we were better but second half they were better. I am glad we could keep three points.

"We are looking up not down. We can still play European football next season, we must win the next three games."

Final three games won't be easy 

There are three more games to go. We play Nottingham Forest and West Ham, both of whom are still in a fight for survival and then Fulham who will also have their eyes on a European spot, so there certainly won't be any easy games.

Today's result barely felt like a win because we were so poor for large periods, but a win is a win and that's what counts. If we can scrape three more wins playing like this, I'll not be too bothered.

I'll probably be a bit disappointed if Nick Pope is between the sticks again next time out. I'm so over him as a goalkeeper now. It's time for us to upgrade and move on. Yes, he's a good shot stopper, but is that really worth all the high blood pressure and near heart attacks?