JAMAAL LASCELLES thinks Newcastle United need five more wins to secure Premier League survival, and expects his side’s excellent record against their relegation rivals to prove crucial come the end of the campaign.

The Magpies hauled themselves out of the bottom three as they claimed a 3-0 win over Cardiff City last weekend, with their biggest win of the season enabling them to leapfrog their opponents.

Four of Newcastle’s five Premier League victories have come against clubs in the bottom nine positions in the table, and while they might have struggled against the ‘big six’, Rafael Benitez’s side have not lost to any of the sides in the bottom seven.

After hosting Manchester City at the end of this month, Newcastle’s next five home games pit them against Huddersfield, Burnley, Everton, Crystal Palace and Southampton. All those teams are in the bottom half, and Lascelles expects five victories to all-but-guarantee his side’s survival, no matter what they do in their remaining away games.

“I think five wins will probably secure it for us, so those games are going to be important,” said the Newcastle skipper. “It’s nice to know we have those home games coming up, and we’ll want to make sure we get those wins in those games.

“We have to take it step by step, and we need to concentrate on Watford (in the FA Cup), Man City and Tottenham first. I fancy us against Man City, with our fans behind us and their style of play against ours.”

Saturday’s game with Cardiff was billed as a relegation showdown, but Newcastle ultimately ran out comfortable winners.

Fabian Schar’s remarkable solo goal broke the deadlock, and the Swiss international effectively settled things when he added a second midway through the second half. Ayoze Perez’s stoppage-time strike sealed the win, with the Spaniard providing a reminder of the kind of ability that is sometimes overlooked when attention is focused on the off-field problems that continue to plague the Magpies.

For all the doom and gloom that has enveloped St James’ Park this season, Newcastle can still boast a core of players that are tried-and-tested at Premier League level, and Lascelles is confident their class will ultimately tell.

“Against the lower teams, you get a similar style of play and good energy, but what we have over them is quality,” he said. “We have quality all over the pitch, with (Salomon) Rondon and Ayoze up front and good centre-halves, all over the place. Personally, that’s what will be the difference I think.”

Schar’s ability was evident as he sashayed through the Cardiff defence to score his side’s first goal, and while Benitez has chopped and changed his defensive line-up at regular intervals this season, Saturday’s formation, with Schar and Florian Lejeune playing alongside Lascelles in a back three, looks like being Newcastle’s strongest.

“We bounce off each other,” said Lascelles. “They’re more ball playing centre-halves, and I’m more defensive.

“Fabian is a different kind of centre-half. I saw him the other night playing centre-midfield (against Blackburn), and it looked like he had played there all the time. He got the chance to step in and grabbed it. Fair play to him, he did a great job.

“Defensively, he was excellent, and we were together because I don’t think Martin (Dubravka) had to make a save. We defended really well.”

Lascelles’ participation in Saturday’s game was in doubt when he hobbled from the field in Tuesday’s FA Cup replay win at Blackburn. Having come on as a substitute, Lascelles could only last a few minutes before a hamstring injury curtailed his involvement.

His initial decision to play on at Ewood Park looked like it had inflicted further damage, but the 25-year-old insists there was never any risk of him jeopardising his long-term wellbeing.

“We had a big game coming up and we needed bodies, so I decided to come off at Blackburn,” he said. “But I played against Cardiff and didn’t feel it once. It’s fine.”