“That is the difficult side of this league. “We are 10 points clear and that is a pretty good cushion to have. “It is pretty much ours to lose, but I don’t want to count my chickens before they have hatched. “I have been in situations before where we have been so far ahead and lost it. “I am not taking anything for granted because those sorts of memories stick with you and I hope the boys are not either. “You have to keep focused on the games which are coming up. “We were 12 points clear at Schalke with two months to go and we lost the title. “It was a terrible time to do that, particularly as they had not won a league title in ages. I definitely do not want to be in that sort of situation again. You have to take it one game at a time.” One game at a time, one game at a time. It is perhaps one of sport’s dullest cliche, but that does not mean it is not a sensible stance to take. Newcastle have had a wonderful start to the season, far better than most expected during those troubled summer months after relegation. However, they have still achieved nothing and, if anything, the pressure and intensity will only grow over the coming weeks and months. The history books show one Newcastle team could not cope in those conditions, although Løvenkrands feels this squad have the mental strength as well as the ability to ensure they do not lose their grip on promotion. He added: “We know what we are going to get. Every team we go to is going to up their game by 10% at least because Newcastle are coming to play. It is difficult, but it is similar to what I used to have at Rangers. “We are the big team and we are expected to win, it is what it was like for me in Scotland as well. It is tough for us, but we have to deal with it and we have been lately. “If anything, it is going to be even more difficult for us away from home because we are top of the league, but if we keep doing what we have been doing we will grind out the results we will need.” United will face a struggling Coventry City side at the Ricoh Arena this evening looking to make it seven wins on the spin, but they will do so without their most influential player away from home Kevin Nolan. Løvenkrands added: “Kevin has been one of our best players. “It is a shame, but it is only one game and hopefully he will be back soon. It is tough not to have him because he has weighed in with a lot of goals. |