Thursday 28 April 2016 14:51, UK
Alan Pardew says he is "desperate" for his former club Newcastle to stay up as he prepares to return to Tyneside with Crystal Palace.
The former Newcastle boss will be back at St James' Park on Saturday for the first time since his four-year spell in charge ended with a move to Selhurst Park in December 2014.
Pardew was seen as unpopular owner Mike Ashley's man by large numbers of Newcastle's support, who campaigned for his departure. Despite leading the club to a fifth-placed finish in 2012, he is not guaranteed a warm welcome.
That does not bother the Palace boss, who is right behind their survival fight - just not for 90 minutes on Saturday with his own side still not mathematically safe.
"I loved managing Newcastle," he said. "I had some great times there and some difficult ones.
"They've improved under Rafa Benitez. He's managed at the very top of the game. Of course I want them to stay up. I'm desperate they stay up.
"Having said that, my job is to get the three points for Crystal Palace. The atmosphere will be red hot and their team has improved. It's a tough ask to try to win there."
Palace have an eight-point cushion on the bottom three, but Pardew invited England rugby union coach Eddie Jones to the club's training ground this week to help keep complacency at bay going into the final three games.
"We're still not mathematically safe and that's the task at hand," he said. "Eddie Jones was in today. We've had a word with the team about complacency.
"We share a couple of professional friends," he said. "A lot of the views he has run parallel with my own. It was nice to have him."
