Newcastle pip Albion to top league

SOCCER Preston 14 Albion’s great promotion rivals Newcastle are braced to duel all the way to the end of the season after re-claiming top spot in the Championship.

Newcastle’s response to the Baggies’ 4-1 thumping of Bristol City was to beat Preston 1-0 at Deepdale last night and move two points back in front of Roberto Di Matteo’s men.

Nolan struck his ninth goal of the season as the Magpies claimed a fifth away win of the campaign.

It puts the the duo four and six points clear of the field respectively and Newcastle boss Chris Hughton predicts this lead-swapping between the two promotion favourites is set to continue.

He said: “West Brom are a tough team – we expected them to be up there. It’s a nice feeling to be back on top of the league, particularly pleasing after they went top over the weekend. They’re a good side, and they can score goals, but we have to look after our own business.

“It’ll be up and down, there’s no doubt about that and there are teams in this division who want to knock you off the top. It’s a tough league – that’s what we’ve found.

“We’ve got to make sure, after difficult times, we bounce back, and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve had three wins on the spin, and we knew another will take us back top.

“It’s about keeping momentum up, as there’s an awful long way to go. After Preston, it’s two home games, and we’ve got to take advantage of those.”

The first this weekend pitches Newcastle against a rising Swansea team before they face Watford. In contrast, Albion now hit the road for games at Sheffield Wednesday and Derby.

Preston’s play-off ambitions may have been hit by injuries to defenders Youl Mawene, who was taken to hospital after being injured on the stroke of half-time, and Callum Davidson.

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This article was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 9:01 am.
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