Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has shut down claims that his side are being "hunted" down by Liverpool in the race for Champions League football.
Liverpool were 12 points behind Newcastle and Manchester United on April 9 but are just one point off now, albeit having played an extra game, after winning their last seven league matches. The third-placed Magpies play their game in hand at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said ahead of Monday night's 3-0 win at Leicester City at the King Power Stadium that the clubs currently sitting behind top two Man City and Arsenal would be happier if they were not being hunted down. And now Howe has hit back at those claims by stating that he is not feeling any pressure.
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He said "I don't feel like we're being hunted. I don't feel that emotion. It's us against ourselves, really. That's how I see it. It's us trying to be the best we can be.
"I've not focused on any other team all season. In my experience, I knew Liverpool were never far away because they are a top team and they are capable of going on runs of wins.
"They are very similar to Manchester City, where they can win a group of games without blinking. They have got that experience. For us, we can't look at it or compare ourselves to Liverpool. We just have to look at us."
Asked if he would have taken the position his club is in back in August, Howe replied: "Snapped your arm off is the phrase that I use.
"I don't know if that is the right one, but we weren't there. At the start of the season, when you take yourself back, I sat in this room and said it was about making sure we weren't fighting relegation.
"It was making sure we had evolved and improved the team enough to be stable in the Premier League, and then we were looking to grow the team in maybe the following seasons. Well, we've certainly surpassed that.
"Now we're in a position where we have three games, and to take that position at the start of the season, where it's in your control, that means everything.
"At this moment in time, then, the hard bit is, of course, to get over the line and win the games, but that's what we will try to do."
Klopp had said: “I’m pretty sure United and Newcastle are not watching us confident it is all fine. We have been in similar situations and you wish anyway the opponent loses and you have that pressure off your shoulders. And our job is to keep the pressure. We have to keep them on their toes."
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