NEWCASTLE United are drawing up three different summer transfer plans to ensure "all eventualities are covered" but there's hope that at least one of those can be binned in the coming weeks as the Magpies continue their push for Champions League football.

Newcastle want to make sure they're well prepared for the summer regardless of where they finish in the table, so are finalising three different plans and budgets for the possibility of playing Champions League football next season, having to settle for Europa League or the unlikely prospect of missing out on Europe all together.

The Magpies head for West Ham on Wednesday night with their Champions League push having received two big boosts in recent days. Newcastle moved up to third in the table thanks to their impressive victory over Manchester United and then watched rivals Tottenham drop points at Everton on Monday night.

Howe says his players are on a "mission" and while his focus is on the final 11 games of the Premier League season, Newcastle bosses are plotting to ensure they're ready to hit the ground running in the summer regardless of how the remainder of the campaign plays out.

"I think we need all eventualities covered so we’re not behind the curve, depending on what happens," said Howe.

"We’re in the process of doing all that work now. Me to a lesser degree because I’m preparing for the games but behind the scenes we are.”

The riches of securing a top four finish and Champions League football would have an impact on Newcastle's summer transfer budget.

"That would be an outcome, yes, but I can’t think about the outcome, I have to think about how we get there," said Howe.

"That is what we’re working towards. But definitely, where we finish, that will dictate to a large part of what we can and can’t do in the summer."

Howe says everyone at the club is on the same wavelength when it comes to ambition and bristled at the idea that, after last season's 11th placed finish, it might be too soon for Newcastle to finish in the top four and go into the Champions League.

"It would be dangerous for me to say that to anyone (it is too soon)," he said.

"We want to achieve whatever we can and push as hard as we can. There is no part of us that is trying to keep anything down, that goes against my internal beliefs. We are going for everything."

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He added: "I think we’re aligned all through the football club. There is a big determination to do as well as we can in the short term and the long term.”

“I never put a ceiling on what the team can deliver. I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe in putting ceilings on any players or any teams’ aspects of its performances. That goes right through the club.

"We are on a mission to try and win and to try and achieve and to try and be the best we can be. I've sensed that from the players this season that there is a real inner determination, a steeliness about us, that we're not here to waste time."