Carver Determined To Build On Baggies Point

By Emily Bulmer

John Carver is hoping to build on last Saturday's point as his Newcastle United team travel to Loftus Road to face already-relegated Queen's Park Rangers this weekend.

The Magpies won the reverse fixture in November courtesy of stand-in skipper Moussa Sissoko's first goal of the season and will be fighting for another three points on Saturday.

Carver revealed that moral has been lifted after putting an end to their eight-game losing run, but acknowledged the huge task the Magpies still have to tackle.

"I think the way we got the point last weekend against a good team who were in form and had just beaten Manchester United was great, it was very important not to lose," he said.

"To go 1-0 down can test your character but to come back from that and show the desire to win - and we were the side that did that - was a good thing. It's always good to break a bad run of form.

"The spirit has been good and upbeat (since West Brom). We're not taking our eye off the ball though as there is still a huge job in front of us - starting with Saturday."

The draw last weekend put United just two points clear of the drop zone, but safety could be guaranteed with a win over Rangers and other results going in Newcastle's favour.

Carver, however, is adamant not to be distracted by what is happening elsewhere and will remain focused on the job in hand.

"I certainly won't be keeping track of other results for the 90 minutes we are on the pitch," he added.

"All I'll be concentrating on is us and what we are doing because it's in our hands.

"I've told the players to concentrate on our own business and not worry about what's going on anywhere else - I'll look at that after we do our job at QPR.

"All I'm thinking about at the moment is Saturday, Queens Park Rangers and winning that game. I'm not going to be distracted with thoughts of anything else."