"I think people probably read too much into the last two results. You’re going to win games and lose games this season - it’s just part and parcel of football. We could go and do something against Man United- that’s how weird this league is. Anyone can beat anyone, so I think there’s enough for us to survive in this league. That’s our main goal, and then to build a platform and go on from there.
"If someone said to me last year that by the third international break you’d be sitting in 11th place, the majority of people would have bitten their hand off for it. No-one knew how we were going to get on to start off with - a lot of people were probably tipping us to go straight back down - but I feel there is enough in the changing room, and what we’ve shown it on the pitch, to keep us up.
"As a footballer to go to grounds (Old Trafford) like that - and I include St. James’ Park in that - to play against the best players in the world, it’s every kid’s dream. Rafa knows this league, he knows how to set teams up and how to get results and I’m sure that we’ll go there and give a good account of ourselves, and hopefully come away with something.”