Newcastle vs QPR: Alan Pardew: In-form Magpies can keep Premier League run going

Toon looking towards Europe after stunning run

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew celebrates with his team after Moussa Sissoko scores against QPR (Getty Images)

Alan Pardew has backed his Newcastle United team to come through a tough run of fixtures next month after they extended their sequence of successive wins to six with a 1-0 home victory over Queen’s Park Rangers on Saturday.

Newcastle are now fifth in the Premier League after Moussa Sissoko’s 78th-minute goal saw off Rangers but they face Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United as well as the derby with Sunderland in December. Yet Pardew is confident they can continue a remarkable upsurge that has rocketed them up the table.

“It is a tough December, there’s no doubt about that, but the team is in such a good place,” Pardew said. “We were so disciplined today. I think anybody who recognises Premier League football and watches it on a regular basis would see that as a really powerful performance from a young team, so that was really good for us.”

Everton are two points off the top four after a hard-fought and at times ill-tempered 2-1 home win against West Ham United and their battling qualities pleased veteran defender Sylvain Distin. “We knew what to expect from them. It was an old-fashioned game, the sort of game I used to play week in, week out when I started in the Premier League,” Distin, 36, said. “It is a physical challenge and we stood up and, when it started to be a bit tough and rough, we kept strong and it is really good to see that side of the team.”

Sean Dyche praised his Burnley side after they followed up their first league win of the season against Hull two weeks ago with a 2-1 victory at Stoke City, Danny Ings getting both their goals. “I thought we were very good for the first 15 [minutes], starting on the front foot and scoring two high-quality goals on the counter,” Dyche said. “Everyone tells me that in the Premier League back-to-back wins is massive, and I’ll go with that, of course. The team are developing and learning – and learning fast.”

Burnley are just one point away from climbing out of the bottom three, helped by Leicester City’s inability to beat Sunderland in a game they largely dominated. However, Leicester’s manager, Nigel Pearson, looked on the bright side of the 0-0 draw. “If the players play in that fashion we will be fine. We created chances and things didn’t quite go our way,” Pearson said.