Roeder And Souness Two Peas In A Pod

Butt and his colleagues will head into the final game of a tough season at relegated Watford on Sunday with coach Nigel Pearson at the helm.

Only victory at Vicarage Road will prevent the Magpies from achieving a new low points total in the Premiership, and that will be the main focus over the remaining days of the campaign.

Butt: "Michael is a world-class player, everyone knows that. Any club in the world would have missed a player of that stature, so to have him back, and also to have him back looking as sharp and as fit as he is, is a bonus.

"We are all disappointed for the manager, but at the end of the day, that is football. Changes will always happen. We have just got to crack on with it and stick together. We have got one more game to go.

"We have got a good coaching staff who are still here. We have all had a chat, a team meeting together and been told we need to stick together and finish the season as strongly as we can.

"It is not just for the whole club, there are personal issues as well because we have got to impress the new manager who is going to come in.

"They have got nothing to lose. It is their last game in the Premiership for at least a year. They will want to go out and enjoy it and give the home fans something to clap about. It will be a difficult game for us, but we know what we have to do, we have got to try to finish on a high.

"We know it has not been a great season, but let's finish with a win."