Newcastle boss Steve McClaren has told his players they are more than capable of avoiding relegation this season, but says they must improve their away form.
Newcastle sit 18th in the table and travel to Stoke City next week after only winning twice on the road all season.
Their home form has seen some significant improvement since the turn of the year, but the results away from St. James’ Park have been woeful.
In their last game, Newcastle found themselves 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge after just 17 minutes, ultimately losing the game 5-1.
McClaren, speaking to The Chronicle, revealed that he and his players spoke at length about their poor away form during their trip to La Manga.
“We’ve talked about it. It’s quite simple, in the last 12 games we have collected 14 points, in six of those games at home we have collected 11 points.
“People have seen that and we have been delighted with the attitude and the kind of football we are playing at home.”
Another criticism of United’s recent displays has been their tendency to crumble once they fall behind. The ex-England boss is determined to address this also.
He said: “The problem has been in away games and dealing with setbacks and making sure we go into games and score the first goal. We haven’t done that.
“The last six games away from home we have won just once.
“So we have talked about maintaining our home form and improving away.”
But, Newcastle’s head coach has been encouraged by Newcastle’s recent performances at home, and hopes it can continue.
“We have to maintain that home form – and the crowd are helping us do that enormously.
“The new boys have been talking about the atmosphere and how fantastic it is.
“It’s an actual joy to play at home, so we have to get that enjoyment playing away from home too.
“We have been disappointing, especially Everton and Chelsea.
“Once we have had a setback we haven’t recovered from that. We have to deal with that.
“We just have to maintain our home form and somehow improve our away form.”
