Magpies will do it, vows Speed
United head for Southampton tonight knowing only a win will be good enough to keep their hopes of reaching the European big time alive in a final day shoot-out with Liverpool at Anfield.
Speed and his dejected team-mates were booed from the pitch by sections of the crowd at St James' Park after Sunday's 1-1 draw with relegated Wolves, a result which means that even the UEFA Cup could be beyond them if they do not pick up six points from their final two fixtures.
However, while their chances have been written off by many, the Welsh international insists that there is everything still to play for and more, and that United can pull off a great escape starting at the St Mary's Stadium.
"The result on Sunday, the only thing it changed was we now have to win at Southampton," he said.
"If we'd have won 4-0 on Sunday, we'd still have had to beat Liverpool at Anfield, so although the performance and the result were disappointing, not that much has changed.
"We believe we can go to both places and win I know nobody else does, I know the fans don't, I know you lot don't, but we do, and that's the most important thing because if we don't believe we can do it, we might as well go on holiday now.
"The important thing is we believe we can do it and if we didn't believe, we're not the professionals that we should be."
Dark clouds have gathered over St James' in the wake of the 2-0 UEFA Cup semi-final defeat in Marseille and the draw with Wolves.
The fact that the Magpies have not won a league game at Southampton since 1972 and have not picked up all three points at Anfield in a decade does not augur well.
However, Speed is refusing to look back and is considering only the immediate future and the prize at stake.
"We've had some disappointments, obviously, but we're looking forward," he said.
"We've had two bad results, Thursday and Sunday, but if we keep looking back at that, then we're going to have two more bad results.
"We're looking forward with self-belief and confidence going into the last two games."
The backlash which greeted Sunday's result shocked manager Bobby Robson and his players and, while Speed admitted he had never experienced anything like it before, he understands the fans' disappointment.
"I couldn't really believe the fact that everyone thought that was it, it was over and we were out of it," he said.
"But I understand, I understand that totally. We were upset as well at the result and the performance, we know we didn't play well, but I understand the fans totally. They're disappointed and they're frustrated and we feel the same, but I think it's just the situation we're in at the moment where we're so close.
"But going back a week before, the fans won us the game against Chelsea, there's no doubt about that.
"We were 1-0 down against Chelsea, so in a way, we were worse off than against Wolves, and if it wasn't for the fans that day, we wouldn't have won the game, it's as simple as that.
"A week later against Wolves when we're 1-1, it's totally different, so it's just the stage of the season and the team we're playing that determines what the mood is."
United have been boosted by the return of Kieron Dyer who scored twice in a 3-0 FA Cup third round win at Southampton earlier this season to the squad after the hamstring injury which has kept him out of the last five games, although his inclusion could represent a major gamble for Robson.
Defender Danny Higginbotham has joined a long list of injured Southampton players.
Higginbotham has entered hospital for an appendix operation, joining Graeme Le Saux, Michael Svensson, Jason Dodd, Neil McCann, Rory Delap and reserve goalkeeper Paul Smith on the sidelines.
Manager Paul Sturrock intends to give a rare starting chance to Brett Ormerod with Kevin Phillips beginning the match on the bench.
Ormerod will also play against Charlton on the final day to enable Sturrock to continue his task of working out the strengths and weaknesses of his squad.
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