Newcastle keeper Steve Harper tells Toon teamwork is vital

Steve Harper has warned Newcastle they cannot afford to shirk on commitment and unity if they want to stay top of the Championship.

The hero keeper says the players have learned lessons from away-day defeats at Nottingham Forest and Scunthorpe and are ready to prove themselves tough enough to cope with being every side’s favourite scalp.

Harper’s injury-time saves ensured Newcastle held on for a 1-0 win at Sheffield United on Monday and he has geed up Chris Hughton’s troops for the weekend clash with Peterborough - who he accused of “milking“ their Carling Cup victory over United’s youngsters earlier in the season.

Harper says any player dipping below the required standards is quickly rebuked by an experienced dressing room that is doing everything to help boss Hughton.

He said: “We really put a shift in. Even when you’re not playing well it’s vital we have that togetherness and unity. I don’t think it has ever gone away. There were just a few things that had gone wrong.

“It’s well documented that it’s a fantastic dressing room we have got and we have a lot of individuals who have high standards and demand those standards are met by everyone else.

“If they don’t reach them these players let the others know about it. We got back to those standards on Monday night in terms of the effort and hard work needed away from home.

“We have learned our lesson. The first half at Forest was probably as poor as we have been. At Scunthorpe we played pretty well but gave two bad goals away. The Sheffield United game was an example of people covering for each other and working for each other.

“Everybody has had a wobble and so have we. We were probably the last side in the division to have one, but it’s not been a great few weeks. We drew the two home games and lost two in a row away.

“That allowed the chasing pack to catch us up. We need to put another good run together and build a lead again. But we know if we don’t match the standards we have set against Sheffield United we will wobble again and we will give hope to the teams behind us.

“You have to be able to grind out results away from home, we can’t just rely on our home form. It’s always going to be difficult for teams coming to SJP in front of 40,000 fanatical fans. We’ve got a great opportunity on Saturday. All the top seven or eight are playing each other.

“We owe Peterborough one. A few of their players were milking it when they beat our young lads in the Carling Cup so we’ll definitely be up for it on Saturday.”