Ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Newcastle, Steve McClaren has called for his team to be heroic.

Newcastle’s last Premier League match saw them draw 0-0 against Manchester United – not a bad result for the visiting team at Old Trafford. Despite this, the Tyneside team currently sit just above the relegation zone on goal difference alone, with two points.

Manager McClaren believes his team will have to be heroic in order to beat Arsenal, as well as better on the ball than in previous games.

“To beat any of the top four teams you need to defend well, be compact and heroic,” he said. “We need to repeat that and be better on the ball especially at home where we need to keep the ball better than we did last week.”

McClaren also called for the geordies to get behind their team, saying, “With a sell-out crowd behind us we can hopefully make it very difficult for Arsenal.”

On our trip to St. James Park last season, we narrowly won 2-1, although we probably didn’t deserve it, after previously winning 4-1 at the Emirates. It’s a tough ground to go to and we usually struggle there.

In addition, after only bagging four points out of a possible nine so far this season, our performances haven’t exactly been inspiring. Let’s hope we put things right on Saturday.