Newcastle United fullback Kieran Trippier has admitted they overachieved last season.

The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League and qualified for next season's Champions League.

While Trippier is delighted at how the campaign unfolded, he acknowledged that even their internal goals did not involve Champions League qualification so early.

"We have got a good manager and we are all pulling in the right direction which is really important,"he told Jill Scott's Coffee Club at St George's Park while on England duty.

"We finished higher than we expected, we have got to be honest about that, but I think we earned the right to be there. From when I first signed and we were 19th in the league, we have performed very well and the signings have helped.

"We had a goal at the start of the season. It wasn't the Champions League, I have to be honest with you, but it was about giving our best football and giving a good account of ourselves."