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Promoted Toon 3-1 for top-half finish next term

NEWCASTLE'S one-year exile in the Sky Bet Championship is over and after clinching promotion back to the Premier League with a 4-1 thumping of Preston, bookmakers are confident they are on the up.

Bet365 have pencilled the Magpies in at 3-1 for a top-half finish in 2017-18, shorter than the 7-2 they are offering about them being relegated.

And traders at Sporting Index have them in for 42 points, two points more than the magical 40-point mark associated with top-flight safety.

Rafa Benitez's men, 4-6 to be promoted back in August, had taken just one point from three previous matches going into their showdown with Preston to offer a glimmer of hope to the sides below them.

And it was a nervy night at St James's Park until two goals in two minutes in the second half - the first scored by Matt Ritchie from the penalty spot after Paul Gallagher had been sent off for handball - got Tyneside rocking.

It remains to be seen if Benitez stays at the club and he has been steadfastly coy about his future for weeks. But top scorer Dwight Gayle is expected to stay and bet365 rate him a 33-1 shot to score 20 Premier League goals while making the Toon a 25-1 chance to finish in the top six.

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