Thursday 23 February 2017 18:17, UK
Jamaal Lascelles says Newcastle are fully focused on beating Bristol City rather than looking ahead to three successive fixtures against their promotion rivals.
The Magpies take on the struggling Robins at St James' Park on Saturday before travelling to the three sides immediately below them in the table - Brighton, Huddersfield and Reading.
While those games could prove decisive in the race for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship, Newcastle captain Lascelles has told the EFL Weekly Podcast that the focus is firmly on Bristol City.
"We have got some really tough games coming up but we have always said that we have to take every game as it comes and prepare for the next one," he said.
"We have been working on what we can do to beat Bristol City. Brighton preparation will start soon but teams come to St James' Park and they want to perform. They want to try to impress and make it as hard as they can. We have to get this job done before we can think of anything else."
Championship leaders Newcastle will start as strong favourites against Bristol City, who have lost 10 of their last 13 league games and hover just two points above the relegation zone.
But Lascelles insists there will not be any complacency.
"People might have questioned complacency earlier in the season but I think that's out of the window now, we haven't got the type of players to show complacency," he said.
"We all want to get promotion and win, we will fight for each other. Complacency does not come into it. Bristol City will be tough but any team we play we feel we can beat them."
After beating Aston Villa 2-0 on Monday, Newcastle moved a point above second-placed Brighton, with Huddersfield five points behind in third following their 1-0 win over Reading on Tuesday.
"We want to win the division," said Lascelles. "I am sure Brighton will as well. These games are going to be massive for us.
"We have winners, big characters, and players who have done it before. We have a really good understanding of what we need to do and we have the manager leading us in the right direction. If we all focus then we can't go too far wrong."
The Magpies will be without top scorer Dwight Gayle for the next month after he was withdrawn during the win over Villa with a hamstring injury.
Gayle has scored 20 goals in the Championship this season, but Lascelles is confident there is cover in the squad.
"We have players that can slot in," he said. "[When Gayle was out recently] Daryl Murphy came in and did a great job, scored a few goals, and Mitro [Aleksandar Mitrovic] too.
"As long we are winning games we have good strength in depth and competition in every position. It's a bit of a blow, losing our main striker, but he will be back soon."
