Toon Keeper Knows There Are Tough Times Ahead!

Harper came on for the injured Shay Given in Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Aston Villa, with the result deepening the gloom around the club.

Harper: "We need all hands on deck if we are to get out of this.

"We can't do anything about the other teams - it's about what we do that's important.

"We have 12 games left to start getting points.

"We've been on that run and we've only picked up a couple of draws. A win would kick start things and get that belief back.

"At half-time at Villa (with United leading 1-0), we were thinking of getting the three points which would have taken us into the Man United game.

"The game will now be like the Arsenal game in December at St James's Park, when we drew 1-1.

"Back then, we'd been on a bad run and people wanted to see a response from us.

"We've two weeks to produce a response against the best team in the country. We have to lick our wounds.

"There are no easy games in the Premier League, and while that's an old cliche, it's also a fact.

"We have Oba (Martins) back and the rest of the lads from the African Nations, so we have the full compliment of players back."