'I don't feel that emotion': Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe responds to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool claim

Jurgen Klopp claimed that Newcastle United would be "happy" if Liverpool were not taking the battle for the Champions League places to the wire.

Eddie Howe, for his part, says he is just happy to focus on his own team for the third-placed club's remaining three games.

Liverpool closed the gap on Newcastle and fourth-placed Manchester United to one point with a 3-0 win over Leicester City this week, though Klopp's side have played a game more than their rivals.

Howe's side need six points to be certain of a Champions League place, and Klopp said at the King Power Stadium that it was "likely" that they would finish in the top four.

"Newcastle and (Manchester) United would be happy if we wouldn't be there any more, and Brighton just starts losing now, and Tottenham, and that it was safe, and they could concentrate on other stuff," said Liverpool's manager.

"But it's still more likely that they'll do it. I respect that. If they finish the season above us, they deserve it. That's how I see it.”

Howe was asked ahead of tomorrow night's penultimate home game against Brighton and Hove Albion if he felt that his team was being "hunted" by Liverpool in the final weeks of the campaign.

"I don't feel like we're being hunted," said United's head coach. "I don't feel that emotion. It's us against ourselves, really. That's how I see it.

"It's us trying to be the best we can be. I've not focused on any other team all season.

"In my experience, I knew Liverpool were never far away, because they're a top team, and they're capable of going on runs of wins. They're very similar to Manchester City, where they can win a group of games without blinking. They've got that experience.

"For us, we can't look at it, or compare ourselves to Liverpool. We just have to look at us."

Howe would have "snapped your arm off" if he had been offered Newcastle's position at the start of the season.

“Snapped your arm off, is the phrase that use," said Howe. "We were, at the start of the season when you take yourself back, I think, I sat in this room, and I said it was about making sure we weren't fighting relegation."