Newcastle United's path to Premier League safety now clearly illuminated

From the darkest of tunnels with barely a slither of light ahead of them to an illuminated pathway to Premier League safety and hopefully well beyond. The future is looking bright again at St James' Park.

Had the Magpies' fate been played out at Turf Moor with a last gasp victory in Lancashire, the campaign would no doubt have been dubbed: "The Great Escape" for Eddie Howe's men.

Instead, Newcastle's storyline for the season is more than likely to be much less emotionally charged and by the time that trip to Turf Moor comes around, United's fate should be well sealed. For all the suggestions of a last day shoot-out for survival, this game will probably be a dead rubber from a Toon point of view.

United will head to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the international break and they will arrive there refreshed after warm weather training in Dubai. The Spurs clash concludes four away games in a row for Howe and his players.

But then the green grass of home awaits, with three consecutive games at St James' Park against Wolves, Leicester and Crystal Palace in the space of 12 days. With nine points up for grabs, and even if United lost at Spurs, you would fancy the Magpies to nudge past the probable safety tally of 35 points before April 12.

Digging deep with some late winter grinding in January, February and March has paid off for Howe, his staff and the players and they have quite rightly enjoyed the plaudits for doing that. In doing so they have afforded themselves to get the job done with time to spare and the opportunity to do it in a bit of style if they want it.

As they sit on 31 points they can reflect on the benefits of that nine-game unbeaten run - a streak that is probably going to be the platform for Premier