Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has called on his side to show fight in their battle against Premier League relegation.
Pardew’s men slumped to a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Saturday and sit just five points clear of 18th-placed Wigan, who have a game in hand.
And the Englishman believes his side must show their mettle if they are to avoid going down.
“We didn’t start well, the first goal certainly looked like it knocked our confidence and we didn’t really recover from that,” Pardew said.
“Liverpool looked sharper, faster and better organised than us today. I thought we lacked a bit of experience. We got ragged after the third goal, that’s not like one of my teams and I certainly can’t accept that going forward.
“Next week at West Ham we have to be a lot more disciplined than we were today. That performance just wasn’t good enough, we’re all aware of it.
“On Monday morning I expect to see all my team out there whether they have a foot hanging off or whatever because now we have to show we have the fight for this scrap we’re in because other teams certainly have.”
Pardew also admitted to being concerned by the manner of the defeat and is looking to his more established players to guide a charge up the table.
“I’m worried, you can’t come off a defeat like that and the manner of it and not be worried,” he added.
“I’m not going to criticise the team in any shape or form, it was a collective effort and we failed collectively.
“When you’re not playing well and you’re 3-0 down just after half-time it’s a lot for some of the inexperience we had on the pitch and I think that showed.
“One thing that is important is that our best players are fit and available for next week. [Fabricio] Coloccini’s leadership and guidance will be important, hopefully he comes through this week.
“We need to look to the players who have been in this situation before, we have two or three in that dressing room who have been relegated at this club so they know what it’s about.
“We’re going to have to lean on them to make sure we have enough experience in games to get something out of it.”
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