Karl Darlow has admitted that Newcastle United players are in for one of the biggest weeks of their careers as they prepare to take on three of the top five away from home in the space of eight days – three games that could prove crucial in the hunt for automatic promotion from the Championship.
The Magpies travel to leaders Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday night, before taking on third placed Huddersfield Town in the late kick-off on Saturday and then Reading the following Tuesday.
United are now unbeaten in eight games following their comeback against Bristol City on Saturday and Rafael Benitez’ side have an opportunity to move into top spot with a win at The Amex.
Tough week ahead
Speaking to The Chronicle after the Bristol City game, Darlow said: “This result probably makes Brighton even bigger,”
“We know what we’ve got to do. We’ve got a tough week ahead of us.”
The goalkeeper insisted United would go into the “three difficult away games” full of confidence from their “good form away from home.”
“We’ll attack this week and get as many points as possible,” he added.
Darlow also described this coming week as “one of the biggest” of his career and insisted the side “know what is needed to get out of this league,”
“We must take a positive approach to it and make sure we’re still in the top two after it.”
Despite the importance of the next three games, the 26-year-old said: “After these games there are still 10 left so nothing will be decided. A lot of football is still to be played. It’s a long season.”
United’s winning mentality
Speaking about Newcastle’s season so far, Darlow said: “We have done well up to now and must make sure we continue to perform, carry on this unbeaten run and keep picking up as many points as we can, whoever we’re playing.”
The Englishman admitted “three draws would not be bad results” but the squad's “winning mentality” is what sets them apart from other teams in the league.
“We go into every game trying to win it. You’ve got to have that attitude. Brighton is a tough game but that’s our mindset,” insisted Darlow.
“Look at the mentality of the lads, like going 2-0 down [on Saturday], we could easily have crumbled but the mentality is there. We want to win, there are a lot of winners in this team and that has to be shown throughout the season” he continued.
Darlow also spoke about how there would “be a feeling of disappointment” among the players if they were to finish second.
“We are a team of winners and want to come first,”
“We know it is a tough division but at the start of the season, our aim was to win the league and that remains the aim,” he reiterated.
The Newcastle keeper stressed the fact that if United play “proper football and play very well” they can “come away from there [The Amex] very happy.”
Last time out
Back in August, Newcastle ran out 2-0 winners over Brighton with goals from Jamal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey.
Darlow admitted the Magpies can take confidence from that result heading into Tuesday’s game and addressed United’s will to go to The Amex to “put a marker down and hopefully come away with three points.”