Pardew aims to finish above Manchester United

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The Red Devils drew with Fulham on Sunday in the latest stumble of a difficult season and the Newcastle manager hopes to crown a good season by surpassing David Moyes's men

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew hopes to crown a good season by finishing above reigning Premier League champions Manchester United.
The Magpies have been in dismal form of late, suffering consecutive 3-0 defeats to Sunderland and Chelsea and failing to score in six of their last seven league matches, but still sit inside the top eight on 37 points, four adrift of David Moyes's seventh-placed side.

The Red Devils were held to a 2-2 home draw by bottom club Fulham on Sunday, a result that boosted Pardew's spirits ahead of the visit of Tottenham to St James's Park on Wednesday.

"You are never safe from relegation, in my opinion, until you have 40 points in the bag, so we are not safe," the Newcastle boss told the press, "but there's always an incentive in football, always.

"Your professional pride is the minimum but the result at Manchester United [on Sunday] was a result that cheered me up because it gives us a chance to try to catch them and, if we try to finish above Manchester United, that would be a hell of an achievement for this club regardless of anything else.

"That's the immediate incentive for us and then we will see where it takes us."