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Boss Calls For 'Character And Attitude'
Written by Newcastle Utd
Steve McClaren has called on his players to show their "attitude and character" when West Brom come to St. James' Park
By Dominic Scurr
Steve McClaren has called on his Newcastle United players to show their "attitude and character" when West Bromwich Albion come to St. James' Park on Saturday in the Barclays Premier League (3pm kick-off).
The Magpies have suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Watford and Everon and currently find themselves in the relegation zone, two points from safety.
McClaren wants to see the type of vibrant, positive performance his side demonstrated in their previous two home games, against West Ham and Manchester United.
And he admitted: "(The players) know the urgency of the situation.
"Tomorrow is a huge game for us and we need to perform like we did against Manchester United and West Ham if we want to come away with three points.
"With 14 games to go we have to be consistent in our performances. Tomorrow is a tough game, a big game and 50,000 Geordies will demand a performance of attitude, character and football.
"Everybody can see that the talent is there in the squad but talent isn't everything, you need something else. We also need attitude, character and to hold our nerve but make sure we perform in every game.
"The key thing is that we have to pass and keep hold of the ball better, we can't give it away. If you give it away against this West Brom team, they can be dangerous on the counter attack.
They've got a lot of good players (Darren) Fletcher has been a really good signing, (Salomón) Rondón has come back to form and (Stéphane) Sessègnon is dangerous, so they're a very good team who work together and they've got a certain style which works.
"It's not an easy game for us so we need to be right, we need to be patient and get the win. We want to win badly and generally the team who wants to win the most will win."