Sky Sports pundit Prutton delivers Newcastle title verdict

By Danny Wright

Sky Sports pundit David Prutton doesn’t believe that Newcastle will be able to win the Championship title.

In his weekly predictions, Prutton has said that Brighton will win 1-0 at Aston Villa in Sunday’s end-of-season finale to earn themselves the second-tier crown.

Rafa Benitez’s side have to better Brighton’s result in their home clash with Barnsley but it will remain completely out of their hands if Chris Hughton and his men earn three points in the West Midlands.

Prutton, 35, predicts that the Magpies will win 2-0 against the Tykes and has lauded the Tynesiders in how they've gone about their bid to return to the top-flight.

“If Brighton win, there is nothing Newcastle can do,” said the former Southampton and Leeds midfielder on the Sky Sports website.

“I still think they will beat Barnsley, they have been very professional all season and that continues until the final day.”

Newcastle secured their automatic promotion back to the Premier League with a 4-1 win over Preston last Monday.

They followed that up with a 2-0 win at Cardiff on Friday night in order to crank up the pressure on Brighton, who missed their chance to win the title as they suffered a surprise defeat to Bristol City a day later.

The two clubs have been in a two-horse race to be named champions all season and no club have come near to knocking them out of the top two spots.

In other Newcastle news, Mick Quinn has said which type of player he thinks the Magpies must sign in the summer.

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