Owen Coyle: Blackburn win at Newcastle proof they will avoid relegation trouble

Blackburn have won four times in 18 league games so far this season

Boss Owen Coyle says Blackburn proved they will not face a relegation battle this season after beating a Newcastle side that he is convinced will earn an immediate return to the Premier League.

Rovers' 1-0 win at the league leaders moved them out of the drop zone.

"I've said consistently that we will not be in that area of the league over the course of the season," Coyle said.

"Newcastle will go on and win the league, I have no doubt. But we showed that we can play a bit ourselves."

Victory, sealed by Charlie Mulgrew's first goal for Blackburn, ended Newcastle's club-record equalling nine-match winning run and allowed Brighton to move to within two points of Rafael Benitez's side at the top of the Championship.

It was the first time since Coyle took charge in June that Blackburn have managed to win back-to-back games, after beating Brentford 3-2 at home a week earlier.

Rovers have collected 11 points from a possible 21 since 15 October, which is three more than they managed to pick up in the 11 matches that preceded that.

"People look at the league table and don't see the big picture," Coyle told BBC Radio Lancashire after his side moved up two places to 20th in the table.

"I know exactly the building blocks that have been put in place to take this club forward.

"The important thing now is to build momentum. That is what I said after beating Brentford, there is no point having a great performance then come to Newcastle and not perform to our maximum.

"People will think I'm a little bit crazy, but we certainly believed that we could come here and win."