The Magpies face Wigan on Sunday having reached the halfway point of their season on 22 points, which meant they began the weekend in 13th place. They would happily settle for that position come the end of the season with their continued presence at the top table the only requirement in the immediate aftermath of promotion. However, with the gap to the bottom three having been reduced to just three points in the wake of successive defeats by Manchester City and Tottenham while the likes of West Ham, Wigan and Wolves picked up precious points over Christmas, Pardew knows he can take nothing for granted. Asked if the second half of the campaign was shaping up to be a white-knuckle ride, Pardew said: "I think it will be - at both ends of the table. It is so tight through that division. "You look at the teams and there is not a lot to choose between them all, and it is going to be that fighting spirit, that determination to get over the line and to get yourselves into a good position in the league which is going to be important. "We have got ourselves into a position in the league, but it has always been tentative to a degree, and the two big games we have had and lost have put us in a position where the other teams, if they won, would be in touching distance, which they have done. "But it's a club that has the right to say that they have got a great chance to stay in the Premier League after being promoted because of what they have done in the first half (of the season). "But we need to back that up and that's really where we are. "The most important part of any Premier League season is the second half, and you need too be very, very strong when teams improve and get stronger. "It's that that we really have to focus on." The second half of the campaign begins at the DW Stadium, a venue where Newcastle have not collected a single Premier League point in four visits. Former Magpies winger Charles N'Zogbia stunned his old club with a header and a blistering drive to put the Latics 2-0 ahead when the sides met at St James' Park in mid-October, and it took a Shola Ameobi strike and Fabricio Coloccini's last-gasp equaliser to snatch a point. N'Zogbia will miss out through suspension after his midweek dismissal against Arsenal, but so too will Newcastle's star striker Andy Carroll, who has a thigh injury. Pardew said: "N'Zogbia would be a miss for any team at the moment. He played exceptionally well against Arsenal and (Wigan manager Roberto) Martinez will probably be very sad to know he is not involved against us. "Having said that, they still have a lot of quality on the pitch and although he will be a loss, they have got plenty of options. "Our record against Wigan is really poor, so that's something we need to improve. "Against the teams in the bottom half, we have not done well this year, and that's something we have got to put right, otherwise we are going to find ourselves in trouble, so it is an important game." Pardew hopes to have Ameobi available after a hamstring injury and will have skipper Kevin Nolan at his disposal following suspension as he attempts to plug the gap left by Carroll, while full-back Jose Enrique should also be able to resume after missing out at Tottenham with a hamstring problem. Meanwhile, Dan Gosling could make his debut for the club within weeks after recovering from the knee injury with which he arrived from Everton in July. Pardew said: "Dan is training and feeling a lot better about himself. The conditions haven't helped his comeback, but I think he will be involved in the team in the next two or three games, hopefully."
