JOHN CARVER has been backed to lead Newcastle United in to the Premier League’s top ten despite fans’ reservations about his appointment at St James’ Park.

After a few days off the Magpies squad are focused on this weekend’s trip to Manchester City knowing a surprise victory could lift them back in to the top ten.

Newcastle have picked up five points from a possible nine since Carver was given the head coach job until the end of the season but there are still a number of supporters questioning his promotion.

He has been accused of being overly negative tactically, particularly at Crystal Palace last Wednesday when Newcastle had taken the lead only for Fraizer Campbell to equalise 19 minutes before the end.

But the players are sure Carver is doing things correctly and is capable of taking Newcastle in the right direction regardless of what the supporters think of his installation as Pardew’s successor until the end of the campaign.

"We very much believe in what John and Steve Stone do, and we have shown that on the pitch,” said Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul. “We're three games unbeaten, and we should have won against Stoke ... we gave it away.

"We could have won (against Palace) too, and we could have had nine points and three clean sheets. We have to look at the positives.

"I think there are a few out there maybe giving John a hard time, but we could have had nine points. John's trying to do some different things, so it's takes a bit of time. But I truly believe we're on the right track.”

Newcastle’s chances of climbing into the top half of the Premier League this weekend rests on being able to defeat reigning champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Very few would give Carver’s side much of a chance to achieve that but, having defeated City in the Capital One Cup in October, there is a degree of confidence among the players that they could spring a surprise.

Krul said: "It's a hard place (Man City). They have a fantastic team. We'll go there with no pressure on us. If they play well, it's going to be a hard game, as they've got great players. But we've beaten them once there already this season.”

The Dutchman does not think it is fair to be overly critical of Newcastle’s performance at Selhurst Park last week, knowing how hard Alan Pardew wanted his Palace team to put on a display against his former employers.

"We could have won, but I think we should be happy with a point,” said Krul. “We didn't really dominate too much. With every goal, you think about what you should have done better, but sometimes you have to applaud the quality of the cross (from Yannick Bolasie). It was an amazing cross for Campbell. We have to sometimes say 'great goal'.”