Source: Telegraph
Leon Best insists Newcastle must cope with being 'Manchester United of Championship'
Best is well positioned to comment on the challenge facing Newcastle because he was one of the many players around the Championship plotting to halt the newly-relegated Tyneside club this season until he headed to the North-East last month. [LNB]He drew parallels between his new club and Premier League champions as he prepared for a reunion with his former Coventry team-mates when they head to St James' Park on Wednesday when it would seem Chris Coleman's side will have an extra incentive to undermine Newcastle's promotion push. [LNB]"As I've noticed in the couple of games I've played here, Newcastle are the Man U of this league and everyone wants to play well against Newcastle and be the one to score or to beat Newcastle," Best said. [LNB]"We just have to go into every single game looking to win it, but when teams are giving their all and maybe that extra bit, we've got to put up with it and try and get as many points as we can." [LNB]Newcastle will host Coventry having regained pole position in the promotion race with a point at Swansea last weekend, after Andy Carroll's late equaliser cancelled out David Cotterill's strike. [LNB]"When you look at that match it was a point gained - we're top of the league now," said Best following the Swansea game. [LNB]"I was here a couple of weeks ago with Coventry and they just passed us off the park. We got a draw and were happy with that. In a way it's kind of the same feeling. We fought back and got the point, so it's a positive in the end. [LNB]"It's a tough place to come because they've got good players who keep the ball and work you. They make you tired chasing the ball. [LNB]"We want to win every game. We want to win the league and we will win the league. But when you come to places like this [Liberty Stadium], you've got to look at a point as a good result." [LNB]Best was dropped to the substitutes' bench by Newcastle manager Chris Hughton but boosted his chances of earning a starting slot against Coventry by setting up Carroll's equaliser. [LNB]"I was pleased to make a contribution," he said. "Whether I'm on the bench or starting I want to be part of it and part of a winning team. [LNB]"To come on and set Andy up is a pleasure. I enjoy it just as much as a goal. We need to do that more, we need to get balls in the box and let Andy feed off them. We've got strikers who can score goals." [LNB]Hughton will be without Best's fellow striker, Shola Ameobi, for the Coventry game with a hamstring injury but Jonas Gutierrez is expected to return to the fray after missing the Swansea game with a muscle injury. [LNB]
