STRIKER Craig Bellamy has been blown away by Newcastle United's form and admits: "We deserve to be top of the League."

Boxing Day's 3-0 win at home to North-East rivals Middlesbrough was the Magpies' fifth consecutive Premiership win. And that run of victories has ensured Bobby Robson's side go into tomorrow's clash with Chelsea three points clear of second-placed Arsenal.

Bellamy has been delighted with Newcastle's displays, but insists they must keep up the hard work in forthcoming matches against the Blues and then Manchester United on Wednesday.

"We work really hard for each other and that's where we differ from the other teams at the top," said Bellamy, who has scored 12 goals this season. "Like them we get on the ball as often as possible and move well off it.

"We have to continue to work hard and create chances or this run will stop. But we deserve to be top of the league."

And Bellamy, a £6m signing from Coventry City in the summer, has heralded the remarkable comeback of midfielder Kieron Dyer as a major factor in Newcastle's goalscoring run.

The St. James' Park outfit have bagged 12 goals in their last four top-flight matches against Boro, Leeds, Arsenal and Blackburn, with the Welshman insisting Dyer is providing that something extra special to the Newcastle ranks.

He said: "Kieron has made a massive difference. We were playing very well without him but he gives us that little extra something which other teams lack.

"With Kieron back we have a really good squad but we know what we've got and it's only now that other people are finding out.

"Everyone in this team can score goals and that is really frightening defences. I'd heard good things about the Boro defence and although they did well to contain us at times they really couldn't cope.

"It's a massive bonus when everyone, including the substitutes, can tuck their chances away. There's no respite for the opposition."

And the 22-year-old thinks that Boro were fortunate to leave Tyneside with just a three-goal deficit after the hosts' impressive showing.

"We completely outplayed Middlesbrough and our passing and movement was brilliant," said Bellamy who should have joined Alan Shearer, Gary Speed and Olivier Bernard on the scoresheet.

"Everyone wants the ball at the moment and I can't get enough of it! Middlesbrough did well to come out of the derby with a 3-0 defeat because we created so many chances."

It has been an incredible turnaround for the fiery Welsh international, who is expecting to hear whether his three-match ban for a red card at Arsenal has been rescinded some time today.

At the start of this year the former Norwich City forward was battling against relegation with Coventry City and now, 12 months on, he has his eyes firmly set on a Champions League place.

"I've been down at the bottom with Coventry so I know what pressure is," he said. "I know what a struggle it is when you're hanging on at the wrong end of the table.

"That's the real pressure in the Premiership and there isn't any when you're playing at home in front of 50,000 fans looking down on the rest of the League.

"I started the year in a struggling Coventry side and I was relegated in the summer. That was hard to take but I won a big move to Newcastle and I knew I had been given a second chance.

"As long as you keep believing there's no reason why you can't realise your dreams and I can do that at United.

"I never hide and I never give anything less than 100 per cent. Some people like it and some people don't but I'll always give everything for my manager and my teammates."

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have denied that they are interested in signing Newcastle schemer Dyer. The Spanish giants have been reported as monitoring the £20m rated player, however, Real director Jorge Valdano said: "We have no interest in signing any players at the moment. And we have never sent people to watch Kieron Dyer."

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