#INSERT type:image caption:Ayoze Perez won John Carver and Newcastle a first point in nine. END#
John Carver praised Newcastle's fighting spirit as they came from behind to get a point at home to West Brom and end their eight-game losing streak.
A 1-1 draw at St James' Park left the Magpies in 17th place on 36 points, two clear of the drop zone with two games remaining.
It was their first point since Feb. 28 and prevented them from slipping into the bottom three as Hull replaced Sunderland in the drop zone.
Carver said: "A point might be huge, but the more important thing for me is the performance. The performance showed that there are people -- and I include myself in that -- up for this fight.
"Today was the biggest game for a long time, since we lost to Aston Villa when we got relegated [in 2009], but it now goes on to the next one at Queen's Park Rangers. Our destiny is in our hands, and we have got to deal with it."
Striker Ayoze Perez who came to Newcastle's rescue with a priceless equaliser on a day when defeat was simply not an option.
Perez struck his seventh goal of the season four minutes before the break to cancel out Victor Anichebe's 32nd-minute opener, and while both sides pressed for a winner, they had to make do with a point.
That proved a satisfactory return, if not the one they had craved, for Newcastle after their long barren run.
It came as a relief to Carver, whose claim earlier in the week that he was the best coach in the Premier League had invited ridicule, although he insisted after the game that his comments had been misinterpreted.
He said: "It's just like another week in my world, isn't it? And I'm going to finish on this: it's been a tough week, there's been an awful lot said.
"Some of the things I have said were maybe taken in the wrong context, and I would like to just say, every time I go and play golf and I'm on the first tee, I think I'm the best golfer in the world.
"When I played cricket as a youngster, I thought I was the best all-round cricketer in the world, so read into that whatever you want.
"But on that note, there's a bit of relief in there because we have stopped the run of defeats, but the work is still to be done and it's still in our hands."