Newcastle United midfielder Jack Colback has insisted that he and his teammates were always confident that they could fire themselves up the Premier League table.

Manager Alan Pardew was under immense pressure at the start of the season as the Magpies had failed to win any of their opening seven matches.

However, the Tynesiders have shot up the table with a run of five consecutive victories, including their 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Colback told reporters: "People might doubt this but I think everyone in the dressing room knew we could do something like this.

"We were playing well at the start of the season just not quite winning games. But the confidence was still there among the players and staff. Finally we are getting the points we should be now.

"There have been a lot of players come in because of injury and they have all done fantastically well. This is a big club with big expectations and we should be up there challenging within the top eight."

Newcastle are fifth in the Premier League with 19 points from their 12 matches.