By Paul Tully

NEWCASTLE can take heart and hope from their performances against Middlesbrough and Fulham as they go into next week's critical last match at Aston Villa bidding to escape the relegation trapdoor.

That's the message from Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, who admitted his side were "maybe lucky" to get their controversial winning goal at St. James' Park.

Hodgson said: "Newcastle's performances against Middlesbrough and against us gives them hope of winning their final game.

"I thought Newcastle deserved better today. We held our luck on several occasions, but we had good performances from our back four and goalkeeper.

"Today was about Newcastle being roared on to give superhuman performances. And they responded very well to that, so it was credit to the Fulham team that we stood up to that challenge.

"And it was a brave challenge. Even when Newcastle went down to ten men they were pushing forward for that goal."

Hodgson said he had not seen a video of Mark Viduka's disallowed second-half headed goal, and added: "When people are piling in it's quite impossible to say from our position 70 yards away.

"But Howard Webb is one of our best referees and he was on the spot. I'm quite sure he wouldn't have given a foul if he hadn't seen it."

Of Diomansy Kamara's match-winning 40^th-minute goal, which video evidence suggests was offside when Kamara moved in behind Steve Harper to convert Erik Nevland's pass, Hodgson conceded: "I suppose there's a distinct possibility.

"I looked at a video at half-time but was just checking that Erik Nevland was onside when he made the run.

"Maybe we were lucky there. In this kind of instance, you don't see many offsides getting given, even though there is a technical offside, because maybe it is too close to the goal."

Hodgson, whose side is now on the verge of a place in Europe, concluded: "I'm very pleased with the team's achievements this year, and I was very pleased with what we achieved today.

"A 1-0 win against Newcastle at this stage is a great result."