Steve McClaren bullish despite Newcastle's 2-1 defeat to Watford
Saturday 19 September 2015 19:42, UK
Steve McClaren has urged his Newcastle United side to dust themselves down and bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Watford.
The Magpies' wait for a Premier League victory under McClaren now stretches to six games after Odion Ighalo's first-half double claimed three points for Watford for the second week in succession.
Newcastle pulled a goal back through Daryl Janmaat in the 62nd minute but they were unable to find an equaliser and remain rooted in the bottom three with only two points.
McClaren told Sky Sports: "Our spirit was tremendous in the second half and we nearly got it back.
"We created chances and got one back through Janmaat but we didn't have that finishing touch to come back and get what would have been a great result for us.
"I've said to the players, dust yourselves down, stick together, and keep calm.
"We've got a long season ahead, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. We've made it hard for ourselves but there is still a long way to go and a lot of football in between.
"We've got the players to create and score, and we did that today. Maybe the game was a little bit too open because Ighalo and [Troy] Deeney have won the game for them.
"The first four games [of the season] we've had to defend against very good teams and we've done that admirably and picked up a couple of points and looked quite solid.
"The last two have really been a wake-up call, we've learnt a lot of lessons about everything. They said this was a tough job and it certainly is."
Asked whether he thought the task tougher than he had anticipated, McClaren replied: "The job is not tougher than I thought it would be, it's exactly what we thought.
"We've been here two and a half months and we're trying to change history and mentality. We're trying to do that on the training ground and then get that on the field.
"You can't quickly turn a page and change everything - of course there is a hangover. That has been demonstrated this week.
"We have to get the balance right so we learnt a lot today. We have to take that into the next game, we have a tough week.
"There was a little inconsistency today and our focus is getting the mentality you need to win games in the Premier League."
