Alan Pardew says Champions League qualification would be 'winning for Newcastle

Alan Pardew: Newcastle United boss says qualification for the Champions Leagu would be like winning a trophy

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew says qualifying for the Champions League would feel just like winning a trophy.

The Magpies have not won a major trophy since the 1969 European Fairs Cup and embark on their quest for the Capital One Cup on Wednesday evening at Manchester United.

But Pardew feels that securing a place in Europe's premier club competition would be just as important as adding one of the domestic cups to their trophy cabinet.

"Obviously, we want to win something - you shouldn't be in the game unless you want to win something," Pardew said.

"Winning for us would be actually qualifying for the Champions League - that would be winning for us, 100%. It would be like winning a trophy.

"But our fans would like to see a nice big cup, I am sure, and hopefully we can achieve that somewhere down the line.

"We are getting to the stage where there's a mentality and a quality in the group that could win a competition such as this.

"We have to just try to win every game that we enter and see where our goals are come Christmas when we can really start focusing on what we want to achieve this season."