McClaren: We’re not safe... and nor am I

STEVE MCCLAREN has still not been given any assurances over his future by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and has warned his side could yet be dragged back into a relegation scrap.

Back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Tottenham have lifted the Magpies two points clear of the bottom three heading into this evening’s visit of Aston Villa.

But McClaren knows only too well the fragile nature of a Newcastle squad who had not won successive matches for over a year.

‘even when you think you’re out of it (relegation trouble), you never are,’ said McClaren, having confirmed Ashley has not congratulated him on the upturn in form.

‘You always look ahead and think, “The three games we’ve got, if we don’t get this or that, oh my God, we’ll be back down there”.

‘There’s always (fear), you’re never safe. Never. Look at Sunderland; a couple of weeks ago, people said they were out of it but a fortnight later they’re back in it. To be clear of the bottom is nice, but we’re not away from it, we’re still fighting.’

McClaren is aware of the perception that his side are inconsistent.

‘People are already saying, “Same old Newcastle, this (Villa) game they’ll lose”,’ he said. ‘The players have heard it and I think we got the message loud and clear. We will do everything to try to avoid that.

‘It is a challenge for the players to say, “That is not going to happen”. This is a different pressure now.

‘They were hurt by the criticism but they have responded in the right way, in the way that we would like and the fans would like.

‘You’re going to lose games and you have to accept criticism. Then you have to do something about it and that’s what we’ve done. Now we have to keep that going.’