ALAN PARDEW has challenged his Toon flops to prove they are better than Sunderland next season.
Newcastle were humiliated 3-0 by their bitter rivals at St James’ Park on Sunday — their first home defeat to the Black Cats in 13 years.
And Pards has warned his side to never let it happen again.
The hurting Toon boss said: “Next year we have to prove that we’re a bigger and better club, in terms of our Premier League position, by finishing well above them.
“That’s what we’re going to try and do next year.
“But first we’ve got to make sure we play well in the last five games of this season with good, solid performances.”
Pardew blamed a European hangover for his side’s shocking Tyne-Wear derby display.
But he now has a distraction-free week to prepare Newcastle for Saturday’s crunch trip to West Brom.
That will give much-needed time for Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Debuchy and Cheick Tiote to work on their fitness having just returned from injury.
And club captain Fabricio Coloccini has also been earmarked for a return against Liverpool in 10 days’ time.
Pardew added: “We certainly can do a week’s work with Hatem and Debuchy, who had his first game.
“And Cheick, we’ll do more work with him. We’ll give a rest to some of the other guys.
“Certainly, Thursday and Friday we’ll be working on team shape, because our shape wasn’t right against Sunderland.”
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