Gutierrez Targets Hull City With Newcastle United

Newcastle United winger Jonas Gutierrez is looking to avoid a tense last couple of weeks to this season, by helping to secure the Toon's Premier League safety well before the last couple of games-at home to Fulham and then away to Aston Villa.

Those fixtures will look even tougher than they already do should the men from the Tyne fail to collect enough points to guarantee safety before then, and Gutierrez would like to avoid such tension, by collecting a victory at Hull City tomorrow.

"The aim is to be safe before the end of the season," he told The Newcastle Chronicle.

"We are trying to avoid going into the last home game or away game when we need to win to stay up. Now we have to take three points from Hull and start a run that will take us away from danger.

"I try not to think about the relegation zone. I think we will get out of the fight at the bottom. All we need to do is win against Hull and move up the table."

Defeat in Yorkshire tomorrow would push the Magpies into the bottom three of the Premier League, and, in their three prior meetings this season, United have failed to win against Hull, drawing once in the FA Cup, but losing the replay, as well as the league game at St James' Park earlier in the season.

Gutierrez insists that he is not feeling anxious though but is keen to get into action and do something about the club's plight.

"The feeling at the moment I have is not a nervous one - we want to play Hull straight away," he added.

"Bring it on - that is the feeling ahead of this match. We know that this game is very important to us and what it means for us between now and the end of the season. They play hard. But we have players who can hurt them.

"What we have are players who can score the vital goals and hurt them."

Gutierrez has fought relegation before, in Spain with Real Mallorca. He concluded by asserting that there was little similarity between the two situations.

He said, "It’s different to Spain. The table here is very close and every team is capable of pulling off a shock. The first two years of my career at Real Mallorca I battled against relegation. So I know what is needed.

"I am not comparing life in Mallorca with now. I know there is a lot at stake and we are one of the biggest teams in England. There is so much history here so we can’t change that by getting relegated."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com