Nicky Butt has admitted that Newcastle United are prime candidates for relegation and that the club may require "miracles" if they are to survive. A 1–0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers on Sunday has left Newcastle two points above the relegation zone, with Manchester United to come tomorrow evening. There is often one unlikely club that loses form at the business end of the season and plummets into the drop zone, mentally unprepared for the fight ahead, and Butt fears this year it may be the club he captains.
Asked if Newcastle are relegation candidates, he replied: "Definitely. Anyone who is sat in our dressing room thinking we are going to be OK is in danger of getting bitten on the bum. If we didn't think we were in a fight before this game, then we know we are now."
Aside from a frantic 3–2 victory at West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle have not won since 21 December and three of their next four matches are against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. United won 5–1 on Tyneside last season and 6–2 in 2003.
"We definitely need to take something from those games now," Butt added. "Our situation is getting more and more serious as the weeks go by. It couldn't be any tougher than United next. At least they are coming to St James' Park, which is something. But they are probably the best team in the world at the moment – we could play out of our skins on Wednesday and still come away with nothing. But miracles do happen and although we haven't had good results against United at home we have had against Chelsea and Arsenal."
Butt may not play tomorrow after being substituted at Bolton with a knee injury, and although Newcastle should soon have a full complement of strikers – with Michael Owen scheduled to return at Hull City on 14 March – they are dangerously short in midfield. Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie and Damien Duff are all unavailable.
At the Reebok, Newcastle played Peter Lovenkrands, a striker, and Ryan Taylor, a specialist full-back, in midfield. "We're just getting our strikers back, now it seems all our midfielders are getting injured," said Butt. "That's the way it's been going."
