WITH five games in which to overhaul a four-point gap to safety, Newcastle are a club in the mire.

To one of their players, however, the current situation is a cakewalk compared with a relegation battle from the past.

In 2006, in his first season in Spain’s La Liga, Jonas Gutierrez was part of a Real Mallorca side that was two points adrift of safety with four games left. Hardly irretrievable you might think, except for the fact that two of the four matches were against Real Madrid and Valencia, teams that would eventually finish in second and third positions respectively.

Newcastle might still have to face Liverpool this season, but at least they won’t be playing Chelsea as well, knowing they need to win both games to avoid the drop.

“This is a tough position, but my first season at Mallorca was probably even tougher than this,” said Gutierrez, who spent three seasons on the Spanish holiday island before transferring to Tyneside last July.

“We were in the relegation zone by two points with four games to play, and two of those matches were against Valencia and Real Madrid. At the time, they were two of the best teams in the whole of Europe, never mind Spain.

“We knew we would probably have to win at least three of our last four matches to stay up, and in the end we beat both Valencia and Real Madrid and won one more game.

“It was a really good achievement from where we were in the table. This is similar – we are in the same sort of trouble with five games left – but I am confident we can have the same outcome. If that happens, I will be happy.”

Mallorca beat both Valencia and Real Madrid 2-1 to remain in La Liga, and while their struggles in the first half of the season plunged them into the heart of the relegation zone, their improvement in the final two months of the campaign was marked.

Gutierrez highlights his former squad’s togetherness as a key factor in their success, and sees similarities in the spirit that has been forged in the face of adversity on Tyneside in recent weeks.

Alan Shearer has introduced a number of initiatives in an attempt to bring his players closer together, such as enforced mealtimes, a squad-wide dress code and a training regime that forces all injured players to remain on site with their team-mates until 4pm.

According to Gutierrez, the move is paying dividends.

“The spirit in that Mallorca side was brilliant,” he said.

“And that definitely made a difference. In a situation like this, it is often as much about how much you pull together and play together as anything else. If you are not together, it will be impossible to get the results you need.

“That’s why I am confident about the situation here. The team spirit at Newcastle is similar to what it was like at Mallorca. The team are all thinking the same way and that is a very good thing.”

If Newcastle are to avoid relegation in the final four weeks of the season, they are surely going to have to beat Portsmouth at St James’ Park on Monday.

Ironically, Gutierrez could have joined Pompey last January, six months before he joined the Magpies instead, but while Paul Hart’s side will start Monday’s game seven points better off than their opponents, the Argentinian insists he harbours no regrets about his move.

“I am very happy to be here,” he said. “I had the opportunity to go to Portsmouth in the January before I came here, but I decided not to and I am pleased I made that decision.

“I am happy here in Newcastle – the only problem is our position in the league. We have five finals now and we have to take enough points to stay in the Premier League.”

While he turned down an opportunity to move to Fratton Park, Gutierrez has fond memories of Portsmouth as arguably his best performance in a Newcastle shirt came against the south-coast side.

Too many of the winger’s displays in black-and-white have failed to hit the heights predicted when he moved to Tyneside last summer, but back in mid-December, he was in dazzling form as goals from Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Danny Guthrie secured a 3-0 win over a Pompey side that was hurtling down the table under the stewardship of Tony Adams.

“It was a very good game,”

said Gutierrez. “Probably our best performance of the season.

We kept the ball and scored three good goals.

“I won the man-of-thematch award and I still have the champagne in my home. I haven’t drank it yet, but I might be persuaded to have some at the end of the season if we stay up.”