Howe warns Newcastle to keep focus as they close on Champions League spot

AFP | London

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Eddie Howe has warned his Newcastle players not to get “distracted” ahead of Sunday’s trip to second-placed Arsenal as they seek to nail down a Champions League spot next season.

A win at the Emirates would take the Magpies above Mikel Arteta’s Gunners with just one game to play and within touching distance of a top-five finish.

Only champions Liverpool are so far guaranteed one of the five places on offer to Premier League teams in Europe’s top club competition next season.

Newcastle have been buoyant since winning the League Cup final against Liverpool in mid-March, losing just once in eight league games since.

Arsenal have been Liverpool’s closest challengers for most of the campaign and a few weeks ago appeared to have second place locked down but they have stumbled. Howe cautioned his side against complacency on yesterday, with just four points separating his third-placed team from Nottingham Forest, in seventh spot.

“It’s not done and the picture can change game to game and I think that’s what we’ve got to be really focused on, just our next game and trying to win it, which we will do and we have done this week,” he said.