John Carver says he will not allow Newcastle's season to "drift away" after being appointed head coach until the end of the season.
Carver was handed the reins at St. James' Park until the end of the season on Monday, starting with Saturday's Premier League trip to Hull.
Eleventh-placed Newcastle have lost their last three games and failed to win in four as the 50-year-old former assistant manager seeks his first victory at the helm since succeeding Alan Pardew earlier this month.
"I'm delighted to have got the job until the end of the season," Carver told nufc.co.uk.
"Everyone knows I love this club and my goals are simple -- to finish as high as we can in the Premier League and get as many points as we can.
"Everybody on the outside is talking about our season petering away but I am not going to allow that to happen.
"Those who are saying that don't know me, don't know the people around me and don't know this group of players.
"We're much more professional than that. We can't afford to let the season drift away and I won't allow it to happen.
"I'm too demanding and I won't allow anyone to slacken off between now and the end of May."
Carver will work alongside Steve Stone and Dave Watson, the latter having stepped up from looking after the Magpies' Under-18 side, and says he plans to spend as much time on the training ground as he did when he was Pardew's assistant.
"I love being on the training pitch and the role of the head coach is to be hands-on out here," Carver said.
"When you are a manager you have to manage the football club, but the role has changed and it gives me maximum time on the training ground, coaching the players.
"What I have done is given Steve [Stone] and Dave [Watson] more responsibility because they are very good at what they do, and it is important that you delegate to those who are talented.
"But when it comes to the meat of the session, it is my responsibility to prepare the team for the final 16 games.
"The players have been really positive and have responded.
"Even though we haven't won a game yet, I think we've played some nice stuff in spells.
"Ultimately though, it is about scoring goals and winning games so that needs to change.
"We've done plenty of work on that on the training pitch and hopefully that little bit of luck we need will fall our way this weekend."
Carver's hopes of a first victory in charge could be boosted by the return of top scorer Papiss Cisse following Senegal's early exit from the African Nations Cup on Tuesday.
Senegal's 2-0 defeat to Algeria saw them crash out at the group stage and nine-goal Cisse, who scored twice in a 2-2 home draw with Hull in September, could now be available for the trip to the KC Stadium.