"St James' Park is probably one of the best in the country," said the Scot. "Because of the success their team have had over the past year or so, they've always been incredibly passionate, but I think they're probably even more so with what they're getting.
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"I think it's a really important game (at St James' Park on Saturday), as they all are now.
"I think we have nine to play, I think every game's going to be vitally important to pick us as many points as we possibly can. There are a few teams chasing in and around the European spots and we're one of them.
"We've had more games than Newcastle, so I can only comment on ourselves. Has it impacted us? Yeah, it has. I'm sure in some ways it's impacted Newcastle as well."