Chris Hughton has warned Newcastle United that they cannot afford to rely on other teams slipping up in order to secure their place in the Premier League.
The Magpies have been dragged into a relegation battle after losing their last eight games, ahead of facing West Bromwich Albion, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United in their remaining three fixtures.
Former Newcastle boss Hughton insists that they must find a way of picking up points.
"It is a pivotal time," he told talkSPORT. They are in very, very bad form at the moment, the worst form they have had this season, going into the most important part of the season. It could come down to goal difference.
"The positive at the moment, psychologically, is they are not in the bottom three and on paper, with due respect to the teams they are playing, they are not playing teams in that top half, apart from West Ham, and two of their games are at home.
"[But] irrespective of where they are, they have got to get points because I've got no doubt that Sunderland, Hull and Leicester will get points so they have got to get points somewhere and those two homes games will prove pivotal."
Newcastle are 15th in the table, two points clear of the bottom three.
Steven Toplis
