The Magpies out to build on Reds win

NEWCASTLE United winger Georginio Wijnaldum has urged the club to keep faith with manager Steve McClaren in the wake of the team’s impressive 2-0 win over Liverpool at the weekend.

Newcastle travel to White Hart Lane to face fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur today.

The victory over Liverpool pushed The Magpies to thirdfrom-bottom in the table, behind Bournemouth and Norwich City on goal difference, and Wijnaldum was keen to blame the club’s poor performances this season on himself and his teammates.

“I didn’t know that there was talk about the trainer’s future but I don’t think it’s the fault of the trainer that we performed badly,” the Dutchman said.

“I think it’s the fault of the players. But that’s the thing in football, when things go badly everyone says the trainer is responsible. It’s not fair, especially not in our case, because I think for this club, he’s the best that we can get now. I hope that the club will give him the faith and keep him.”

The win over Liverpool has boosted confidence among the ranks, with midfielder Moussa Sissoko saying the team are capable of finishing in the top half of the table.

“If you look at our team, we have good players. We could finish in the top 10,” he said.

“But for that [to happen] we have to show every week we are worthy of that. If you look at the season from the beginning, we have played some good games and some bad ones. So we have to be consistent.” CHANGING Liverpool’s mentality is a key task for manager Jurgen Klopp, centre back Dejan Lovren has said, while offering a glimpse into the German’s training methods.

They play West Bromwich Albion today.

“We have only been working with him a short time, barely two months, and we have already had some good results with him,” Croatia international Lovren told the club’s website (www.liverpoolfc.com).

“With time it will be better. With his methods and his way of working, I don’t see how it cannot be better.

“We are definitely working hard on the training ground but now it is all about the mentality. I think the English and the Germans are different in this aspect.

“It is a big thing to change but I think the stats and so on show that we have been doing okay with Jurgen so far.”

He also described a typical training session under Klopp, explaining how the manager preferred to focus on getting his players to work as a unit.

“We are doing a lot of teamwork, not so much individual,” said 26-year-old Lovren.

“Maybe there is more one-toone work with some of the young players but we will definitely look at things as a team.

“When he shows us footage or talks us through an exercise, he will look at it in terms of the team and explain how we need to do something specific or how — as a team— we need to do something better. —