Alan Pardew refused to give up on Newcastle's Champions League dream despite seeing his side beaten 2-0 by Manchester City on Sunday.
The Magpies, who have defied all expectations to challenge the established elite this term, go into the final round of fixtures two points adrift of Arsenal in third and one behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
Pardew's men travel to Everton on the final day of the season next Sunday, while the Gunners are at West Brom and Spurs play host to Fulham.
After turning around the fortunes of the Magpies and winning over the supporters in the North East, Pardew is just happy to have the St James' Park side back among the upper echelons of the table.
And he paid tribute to the Toon Army, who gave their players a warm ovation after their final home game of the season ended in defeat, with Yaya Toure's brace handing City the victory.
Pardew told Sky Sports: "It's simple for us, if we don't win our game we can't make it anyway. The other two have nervy games.
"Arsenal are at West Brom and Tottenham are at home to Fulham needing to beat them in case we win. They will all be looking at us and we just have to win and see what happens.
"If someone had said to me at the start of the season that we would go to Everton looking for a Champions League place I would have laughed at them.
"But we have had a great season. I am proud of the players, even their performance today. Our fans we brilliant to us at the end - it's not often you lose 2-0 at home and the stadium stays behind to clap you off.
"It is just nice to see Newcastle United getting respect again. This is a club bathed in history and tradition and when it's not at the top of the division it is not right.
"They are where they are, they belong there. It is my job to make sure we stay there. It's not easy, but we will give it another good go in the summer and hopefully we will be stronger next year."
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