Cheick Tiote is hopeful Newcastle United's battling 1-0 victory at AFC Bournemouth will prove the turning point of their ailing Premier League season.
Newcastle took all three points at the Vitality Stadium thanks to Ayoze Perez's first-half goal, but had to ride their luck throughout the 90 minutes with goalkeeper Rob Elliot making a string of fine saves to preserve their clean sheet.
The victory - just Newcastle's second of the season - lifted Steve McClaren's side out of the relegation zone at the expense of their opponents, and Tiote feels it was the least they deserved after ruing their poor fortune against Stoke City and Sunderland.
"We had played well in the two previous games," he told the Chronicle. "But we hadn't won, and this was a day when we had some luck. That's football.
"When you look at the games against Sunderland and Stoke, we did everything well to win but we didn't score.
"It wasn't the best game, but the most important thing was the three points. Sometimes you need a bit of luck.
"We are out of the relegation zone now, and that was very good for the team.
"We need to focus now on the next two games [against Leicester City and Crystal Palace].
"It’s not going to be easy, but we need to do everything to be ready and try to win."
Tiote also dismissed claims he was a "bad egg" in the Newcastle dressing room.
The suggestion was made by a journalist on Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement programme in September but the Ivorian insisted he simply wants what is best for the team.
“It didn’t affect me, I know myself that I didn’t do anything bad," he added. “Everybody at the club and my partner knows that.
“I just do my best for the team, that is the most important thing.
“All I want is to see the team go forward and win games.
“What people say in the media, I just put that to one side - it doesn’t matter.”
