Jonjo Shelvey admits Newcastle are in a relegation battle ahead of Swansea's visit to St James's Park

The club is 13th in the table ahead of Saturday's game against rock-bottom Swansea City.

Newcastle, however, are just two points above the relegation zone.

Shelvey, linked with a move to boyhood club West Ham United in this month's transfer window, joined from Swansea in January 2016 in a £12million deal.

The 25-year-old was relegated that season with United, but he has no regrets about the move.

"Swansea's a great club," said Shelvey, who scored in last weekend's 3-1 FA Cup win over Luton Town.

“It's a great family club. The stadium isn’t the biggest, but the supporters get behind the team.

"As soon as I found out Newcastle were interested, there was only one place to go, but obviously I don’t want to see them go down, because I want to play against them and I have mates in their team.

“But football is a cut-throat business, and I would rather we stayed up than them.

“It's a relegation battle that we're in, and whoever comes out on top will be the worthy winners.”

Swansea appointed Carlos Carvalhal as manager last month.

Carvalhal guided Sheffield Wednesday to home and away wins over Newcastle in the Championship last season, and Shelvey's expecting a difficult game.

"He's always been a good manager," Shelvey told NUFC TV.

"They beat us twice last year, so he'll know how to set up his team against us.

"Of course, they had a good start against Watford, and it's going to be a good game. They're not going to come up here and sit back. They'll come here to have a go. I think that's what Swansea do, and that's what the manager does.

"But it'll be a game for the fans to enjoy, and hopefully we can come out on top."

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