IT had been billed as a mustwin game, but Danny Guthrie still feels the point earned against Portsmouth on Monday could prove crucial to Newcastle’s chances of staying in the Premier League.

The Magpies extended their winless run to nine matches against Pompey, and now find themselves three points away from safety with only four games to play.

Given that the club’s next match is away at Liverpool, a point was hardly an adequate return from a home game against one of the sides battling against them in the bottom half of the table.

But with fellow strugglers Hull and Sunderland both failing to pick up anything last weekend, Guthrie feels Monday’s goalless draw could yet prove a significant stepping stone to top-flight survival.

“We built it up as a mustwin game and only got the draw, but we don’t know how good that point’s going to be yet,” said the midfielder.

“We had chances to win and, the more the game went on, the more open it became.

But we definitely didn’t want to lose the game because a point at the end of the day might keep us up.

“You have to take that positive out of it. The teams around us lost at the weekend, so results went for us and we gained an extra point. I know it’s not three points, but we did gain a point and that could prove vital at the end of the season.”

Guthrie met students from Northumberland College yesterday as part of a questionand- answer session organised by Premier League sponsor Barclays, but nearly 24 hours after the event, the 22-year-old admitted he was finding it allbut impossible to forget about Monday’s game. This is not the first time he has experienced a relegation battle – last season, he was part of a Bolton side that avoided relegation to the Championship by a single point on the final day of the season – but familiarity does not make the experience any fonder.

Indeed, having moved to Newcastle at the start of the season expecting to be pushing for Europe, Guthrie is finding the current situation even harder to accept.

“It does hurt, even to the extent of being embarrassing because of the size of this club and the players we have,” he said. “It’s the last thing you want.

“It’s a horrible place to be (in the bottom three). No one wants to be there and no one wants it on their CV – involvement in a team that was relegated. From my point of view, I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that’s not on my record at the end of the season.”

And while Sunday’s trip to Anfield is unlikely to offer any easy pickings, Guthrie has cited Newcastle’s subsequent home games against Middlesbrough and Fulham as reasons to be optimistic.

If the Magpies can win them, one of the greatest of great escapes could be on.

“We can definitely still avoid relegation,” said Guthrie. “While it’s still possible, you have to believe. I haven’t contemplated going down, even though it’s there, it’s a realism.

“I’m just concentrating on the positives and we have to keep believing.”

■ Jose Enrique underwent a scan on his injured knee yesterday that will reveal whether he will be forced to sit out the final four games of the season.

■ Jonas Gutierrez is struggling with an ankle injury that restricted him to substitute duties on Monday. The winger jetted in from a scheduled court hearing in Spain in order to take his place in the Magpies squad, but was not deemed fit enough to start the game.

“Jonas had a knock on an ankle injury,” confirmed manager Alan Shearer.

“He had been away for two days. He was all right to put on the bench, though, so we will see how he is.”

Newcastle ended months of legal wrangling when they reached an out-of-court settlement with Real Mallorca and Velez Sarsfield, who jointly owned Gutierrez’s registration, on Monday.

The agreement will see the Magpies pay both parties about £2.5m, even though Gutierrez’s arrival, which was heavily influenced by former executive director Dennis Wise, was originially presented as a free transfer.