DAN Gosling insisted his "face never fitted" at Newcastle but stressed that a difficult spell in the north-east had not given him added motivation for the crunch clash with his former employers.

The 25-year-old midfielder made just 35 appearances under Chris Hughton and then Alan Pardew during four years on Tyneside, a stint which was severely hampered by a string of knee injuries.

Having exited St James' Park for Cherries in summer last year, the ex-England under-21 international is in contention to feature against his old club in the Premier League on Saturday (12.45pm).

The 17th-placed Cherries are a single spot above Newcastle in the standings but despite his links to the Magpies, Gosling said his motivation levels would remain at the same high level.

He told the Daily Echo: "I've probably forgotten about my time at Newcastle, to be honest. I made some good friends, if that means anything, but it wasn't the greatest time.

"What I do know is that I gave everything every day for the club and that the odd time I did play, I felt like I played well. I just think my face never fitted.

"The management has changed there now and it's a different set of staff altogether.

"I'm not out to show them that I'm a good player, I'm out there to help Bournemouth get three points, whether that's Newcastle or any other team. It's as simple as that.

"I got on with all the lads so it will be nice to see a few people and staff members that are still there, but ultimately, it's a massive game.

"We need to win and they need to win so, if I am selected, it would be a great game to be involved in."

Cherries may be just a single point above the Premier League drop zone but former Everton star Gosling is confident the Dorset club can quickly climb towards the middle of the table.

He added: "If you get back-to-back wins, that's all it takes, and we're very capable of that.

"I think you look back at certain games, against Watford we missed a late penalty, against Leicester we conceded a late penalty and against Aston Villa we had three great chances before half-time and lost to a set-piece.

"There is nine points we could have secured but that's in the past now. We need to move on and win games quickly.

"We want to give 90 minutes rather than just the second half, as was the case against Southampton. If we do that then we're going to win more games than we lose."