AFTER an impressive first two years in the Premier League, Cheik Tiote has caught the attention of a number of Champions League clubs.

But credited interest in him from Manchester United and Chelsea, however, has not affected the man from the Ivory Coast. Tiote is only focusing on the season ahead - with Newcastle.

The 26-year-old will be at the heart of the Magpies midfield when the Premier League campaign begins with a visit from Spurs this evening. And he is looking ahead to improving on May's fifth place finish.

Tiote said: "I'm just focused on the game. You never know. I'm still a Newcastle player and everyone is working towards the game on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.

"For me I'm happy if I'm playing. I'm playing here at Newcastle and I'm happy to be looking forward to the new season. We have some good players and we want to do the same as last season, if not better. It's exciting. I am just doing my job."

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is the first to admit he is powerless to prevent a multi-million pound sale if valuations of certain individuals are met.

But after getting to this stage of the transfer window unscathed, there is genuine hope on Tyneside that they will be able to retain the likes of Tiote, thought to be rated in the £25m bracket by his club.

The fact Newcastle have also managed to keep the likes of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Yohan Cabaye has also not gone unnoticed.

Tiote said: "For the squad it is good and it is good for the manager. It's a team thing and we are not Arsenal, Man United or Chelsea here. We are Newcastle, so if we can keep our best players, then it will be good for this club.

"Had we lost two or three key players then it would be difficult to do the same as last season. It's good for the Newcastle family going forward."

After helping Newcastle to fifth last season and a return to European football, Tiote wants to make sure progress continues. When he looks back on the previous campaign, he pinpoints the ability to stay unbeaten through opening fixtures with Arsenal and Sunderland as the base for a successful nine months.

"This season will be bigger than last season," said Tiote, ahead of Newcastle's trip to Greece to face Atromitos in the Europa League on Thursday and then Chelsea next Saturday after today's date with Spurs.

"Last season we started well. That helped us. The first two games were tough, but we have tough games this season too. It is about the first game and if we can win the first game against Tottenham we will all be lifted.

"The team spirit here is great, it was last season, like it was against Arsenal in the first game and then again against Sunderland. That's what helped us have such a good season. We still have that spirit going in to this season.

"The squad is still the same. We have lost some players, but we have brought in players like Vurnon Anita, which is good for the squad."

A lot of money has been spent by the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, while Manchester City are likely to invest and improve on the squad which won the title last season.

And with Tottenham and Liverpool determined to close the gap on those teams, Tiote reckons it is difficult to know who Newcastle will be battling for position with in the league this season.

He said: "At the moment I don't want to say anything. It's difficult. You never know in football. When last season started I would have never said Bolton would go down. That's football. You have to try to win every game and then we will see. We will see how the season goes and who are our rivals. It's difficult to say now. There have been too many changes. We must focus on Newcastle first."