Eddie Howe is ready for 'very tight' mini-league end to the season starting with Ipswich Town on Saturday

There are just five games remaining in the season, and with the relegation places and title winners all but sewn up, the focus is now on the race for the Champions League.

Thanks to how well English teams have done in Europe this season, a top-five finish will grant access to the Champions League, where it would usually just be the top four.

That gives Newcastle United a bit more of a cushion if anything is to go wrong in the last five games, but with Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa all on the hunt for a top-five place, two teams are going to miss out.

Right now, it could hardly be much tighter between the five sides, and it all comes down to the remaining fixtures, with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Aston Villa having the added distraction of an FA Cup semi-final to deal with.

Eddie Howe says Ipswich cannot be underestimated

After missing the last few weeks through illness, Eddie Howe has returned to the helm at just the right time, and the Newcastle boss told reporters on Friday morning (via The Chronicle) that he's ready for the challenge ahead.

"Yeah, I see it being very, very tight and possibly going right to the end of the season in terms of the competition for the top five places. I think we've put ourselves in a very strong position for what we've done for a consistent period of time now in the Premier League. Our record's been very, very good for a long time.

"But now we sort of go into a five-game league, really, where we're going to have to be consistent again and try and get results in some really tough games.

"So we're looking forward to the five games ahead of us, starting against Ipswich will not be easy. You look at their recent away form, it's been strong. We can't underestimate them in any way."

Is it too much to ask for Newcastle to go goal crazy tomorrow?

Ipswich Town will be relegated if they don't pick up a win at St James' Park tomorrow so they will have plenty of fight in them, however they are missing 10 first-team players through injury and suspension, and even if they did somehow win, all it will take is for West Ham to pick up one more point and Ipswich are down.

We can't underestimate them, or go in feeling too complacent, but at the same time, we can't help but feel this is the perfect game for Newcastle to win big and set the stage for the remainder of the season.

Both Paul Merson and Chris Sutton have predicted a 3-0 win, which we would certainly take, but we do kind of want more. It's about setting the tone that we are the ones who are serious about this race.