Ameobi expects battle for top five

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi admits matching last season's top-five finish would be the biggest achievement of his career on Tyneside.

The Magpies will head into the new campaign having created a new expectation following their remarkable and largely unheralded surge into the upper reaches of the Barclays Premier League.

But Ameobi, who has played Champions League football and suffered the pain of relegation during his time at St James' Park, knows repeating the feat will be a tough challenge. The 30-year-old told the Journal: "It's certainly going to be really difficult to replicate what we did last season."

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