Lewis Hall Keeps Newcastle Alive After 1-1 Draw at Nottingham Forest
Lewis Hall said Newcastle United still have a route into Europe after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest left them six points adrift of seventh place. Newcastle sat 13th after the result, and Hall said the club must win its final two league games to have any chance of turning that position into something more.
Hall’s message at City Ground
“We are relying on other results as well which is never what you want to be doing,” Hall said after the draw. He added: “We need to be focused on winning the next two games and if it puts us in that position we can be really happy with how we have turned it around.”
Newcastle’s path is narrow. They are six points behind seventh-placed Brighton after the point at the City Ground, and Hall said any European football would still be worthwhile for the club and its supporters. “Any European football would be good for the club and the fans. They have stuck with us in a difficult period so if we can give them something to be happy about at the end of the season we'll be happy,” he said.
Barnes and Anderson decide the draw
Harvey Barnes gave Newcastle the lead with his 16th goal of the season, but Elliot Anderson struck a late equaliser for Nottingham Forest against his boyhood club. That left Newcastle with another dropped result from a winning position, one that fits a season already marked by too many wasted leads.
Hall was asked about Newcastle’s defending after going ahead and did not hide the issue. “I wouldn't say soft but it is something we've looked at and something to try to put right,” he said. He followed that with a sharper warning: “Throughout the season you are going to lose points from winning positions - 27 sounds a lot but in seasons where we have done well we've always dropped points from winning positions.”
Newcastle’s final two league games
The scale of that figure leaves little room for error with only two games left. “It's a big number, we have two games left and have to try not to let it happen again,” Hall said, and Newcastle now need the cleanest possible run to keep any European hope alive.
West Ham come to St James’ Park on Saturday, before Newcastle finish the season away to Fulham. Those two matches now carry the weight of a campaign that has already seen the club drop 27 points from winning positions and slip to 13th, with only the league table and other results left to do the rest.
