BLACKBURN Rovers boss Mark Hughes walked out of St. James' Park with three points, then backed Newcastle United to escape the relegation threat - possibly with less than 40 points.

Asked if he thought United would get out of trouble, Hughes replied: "I think so. They've got enough games.

"Everybody accepts that it won't be 40 points that will keep you in the Premier League.

"You would think that with the games they've got ahead of them they will be able to attain the points they need.

"They will be a little bit nervous until they do so - but they should be fine."

Hughes also admitted the Rovers' 1-0 victory at St. James' Park was "a little bit harsh" on Newcastle, saying: "They had something like 16 corners but thankfully not one of them was crucial.

"We always felt that this was a game we needed to win - we had 11 games left and we knew we had to win the majority of them to get into Europe, and we targeted this one as one we could win.

"We made a couple of substitutions: we were positive and put two forwards on, and one of them has been able to win the game in the 90^th minute."