Alan Pardew: "I think the second half of the season is set to be a white-knuckle ride - at both ends of the table. It is so tight through that division.
"You look at the teams and there is not a lot to choose between them all, and it is going to be that fighting spirit, that determination to get over the line and to get yourselves into a good position in the league which is going to be important.
"We have got ourselves into a position in the league, but it has always been tentative to a degree, and the two big games we have had and lost have put us in a position where the other teams, if they won, would be in touching distance, which they have done.
"But it's a club that has the right to say that they have got a great chance to stay in the Premier League after being promoted because of what they have done in the first half (of the season).
"But we need to back that up and that's really where we are.
"The most important part of any Premier League season is the second half, and you need to be very, very strong when teams improve and get stronger.
"It's that that we really have to focus on."