Newcastle United midfielder Nicky Butt is fully aware of how perilous the clubs Premiership status currently looks. Facing life in the second tier of English football for the first time in more than a decade is not how Magpies players or supporters want to spend their summer and Butt says the clubs plight hurts the players as much as anyone.

 

"I am a player. I am part of why we are where we are," said the former Manchester United player, "I'm part of it. We're all in it together.” Butt, however, refused to lay the blame on club owner Mike Ashley and the early season turmoil that detracted from activity on the pitch. "It was all a bit of a distraction but it's not an excuse for the players. You have to say, 'hold on, mate. It's not his fault. It's me who's not performing.”

Butt still feels that the Toon can regain it’s ‘big club’ tag and be justified in having it but the progress required to do that, from the bottom to the top, will take a while and is not currently going in the right direction. "We've the potential to be a big club but we're not. We're going backwards," he said. Our position hurts me because this place means something to me. We have to keep the club in the Premier League.”