Newcastle ‘years ahead’ of schedule, says Robson

SIR BOBBY ROBSON will attempt to guide his side into the Champions League tonight, by his own admission, years ahead of schedule.

Newcastle go into the second leg of their qualifier against NK Zeljeznicar holding a 1-0 lead from their trip to Sarajevo a fortnight ago and knowing it would be a major upset if they were not to make the advantage count.

It is all a far cry from the day Robson arrived at St James’s Park in September 1999, facing a major fight to maintain the club’s Premiership status.

The strides the Magpies have made in the last three years are a measure of Robson’s nous, judgement of players and ability to get the best out of them, but even he admits that he is surprised at how quickly they have arrived at the gates to the promised land.

“All I thought at the time was that the club needed to be salvaged and saved and kept in the Premiership,” he said.

“That was my first aim, and to do it every subsequent year, which we’ve done.

“But as we’ve got better, there was always a hope that we could get into a European spot, not the Champions League, but we thought UEFA to start with.

“But we’ve gone from sinking into a Champions League spot, not even a UEFA spot, in three years, so it’s been quite remarkable.

“We have done really well, and having got there, we really want to stay.

“I think the most important game was the first game I took charge of here when we were struggling, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.

“But the most important game for five years?

“Yes, only in that it puts us into Europe in the Champions League where we have six games.

“It gets us on the prestige train and the credibility train and we’re going to earn, hopefully, some money, which is what European football generates and what clubs are searching for all the time.”

United go into the game with Kieron Dyer’s lone strike in the first leg having put them in the driving seat.

However, Robson will tell his players there is no room for complacency against a side with nothing to lose.

Teenager Hugo Viana will return to the starting line-up after being rested for the 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday.

Fellow 19-year-old Jermaine Jenas looks likely to be the man to make way as Gary Speed continues following his return from injury.