Hayden - "Eight games to win the title"

The England under-21 international, who has missed United's last nine matches after undergoing an ankle operation, is back in full training and hopes to be available for the visit of the Latics.

With seven fixtures to play in April, Hayden knows it’s a make or break month for the Magpies as they look to secure promotion back to the Premier League.

And he has set his sights firmly on lifting the Sky Bet Championship trophy at the end of the campaign, admitting: "I'm not looking at second - we just want to make sure that we win the title."

The ex-Arsenal midfielder made 32 appearances for Newcastle before having the operation in February.

And - speaking on a visit to the Newcastle West End Foodbank - he told nufc.co.uk: "The surgery went really well and the problem has been taken out, so I've been back in training for the last few days.

"I feel quite fit out there - I haven't really lost that much because it's not been too long, so it's just about getting the training sessions in my legs and hopefully being ready for 1st April.

"I'd been playing with it for probably the two or three weeks before I actually stopped; the Oxford game, the QPR game and the Derby game, I was playing with it from then.

"It was just about getting through the games the best I could and it got to the stage where it was too uncomfortable to play with and I couldn't really concentrate on playing my normal game.

"I was disappointed to miss out on the big games that were coming up over that period but the most important thing is to make sure that I'm fully fit and that I can produce the kind of performances which will help the team and not hinder the team.

"We've got a big month of fixtures now and it's up to us to perform and win the league."

The international break has given Hayden - who turned 22 on Wednesday - extra time to recover and he admitted: "It definitely came at a good time. It's given me that two weeks worth of training to get it under my belt and I think if there were games during this period it might have been a little bit more difficult for me.

"Obviously it was disappointing to miss out on England (under-21s, who faced Germany on Friday and meet Denmark on Monday) but at the end of day, I've got to look at the bigger picture and making sure that I'm 100 per cent fit for Newcastle and performing for them.

"We’re in a good position and the way I look at it is, we've got eight games to win the title.

"I'm not looking at second; I don't think anyone else is looking at second.

"We just want to make sure that we win the title. We've got enough good players, the right staff, a top manager; the platform's there, we're top of the league and it's all to play for.

"Last year (with Hull City, with whom Hayden won promotion last season) was a little bit different - at this stage, they were out of the running to be promoted in the top two, really. It was more about just securing the play-offs, but we've got ourselves into this situation. Eight games left and it's up to us.

"As players we've got to be able to handle the pressure, take the pressure on and succeed. We've played 38 games so far but that doesn’t matter now; if we don’t achieve our goal then those games would have been pointless, so these last eight games are really important."

United have the best away record in the division but have occasionally struggled at St. James' Park - and five of those final games are at Gallowgate, including the next two, against Wigan and Burton.

Hayden explained: "We always want to be able to perform in front of our home crowd. We've found it a little bit difficult over the last couple of months, maybe, and all season we haven’t been as good at home as we have been away which is obviously something we want to change for the last few games.

"But the main thing for us is just focusing on what we need to do, listening to the manager and staying calm and making sure that we go out on the pitch and perform like we know we can do.

"I think we just need to be on the front foot a little bit more, take the game to teams a little bit earlier, and the quicker we can get the goals, the quicker the games are over."

Tickets for the games against Wigan and Burton are still on general sale. They can be purchased online, by calling 0844 372 1892 (calls cost 7p per minute plus network access charge) or in person from the St. James' Park Box Office.