REMY CABELLA has angrily denied that Newcastle United’s players have already called time on their season despite Monday’s 2-0 reverse at Liverpool making it five defeats in a row.

The Magpies have only claimed two victories since Alan Pardew departed at the end of December, and while John Carver claimed the performance at Anfield was a marked improvement on his side’s previous display against Sunderland, the consensus amongst most observers was that Newcastle’s players lacked passion and intensity as they laboured to yet another defeat.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher likened Newcastle’s display to a training session conducted on the morning after a heavy night out, remarks that bore more than a passing resemblance to Phil Neville’s assertion that the Magpies squad “already had their flip flops on” in the wake of last month’s 3-0 defeat at Everton.

Despite their wretched recent run, Newcastle remain nine points clear of the relegation zone with just six games remaining, and while they could yet find themselves drawn into a battle to avoid the bottom three, to all intents and purposes their season is over as a competitive entity.

That feeds into the accusations that commitment levels have wavered, but Cabella has strongly rejected claims that he and his team-mates have already clocked off for their summer break.

“We are certainly not on our holiday,” said the French midfielder, who has scored just one goal in Newcastle colours following last summer’s move from Montpellier. “We are professionals and we don’t think about holidays - that’s impossible.

“We have six matches to play, and we have to concentrate on Tottenham (on Sunday) because we need to win. We are working on the training ground, there are no thoughts about holidays. That’s unprofessional.”

Be that as it may, the level of criticism will only increase if Newcastle fail to stem their losing run when Spurs visit St James’ Park at the weekend.

Sunday’s game offers an opportunity for the Magpies to prove their mettle against a side currently sitting in the top seven, although events on the field are likely to be overshadowed by the off-pitch protests which are scheduled to take place both before and after the game.

A large number of fans are set to congregate in Leazes Park before kick off, with fans’ website, AshleyOut.com, championing calls for a boycott of the match itself. A further demonstration is then planned at the Milburn Stand side of the ground following the final whistle.

The mood amongst the rank-and-file Magpies support is growing increasingly mutinous, with Ashley’s financial prudence cited as a key cause of the ongoing malaise that will almost certainly see Newcastle finish outside the Premier League’s top nine positions for the third season in succession.

Increasingly, however, the fans’ frustrations have also been aimed at the players. Newcastle’s squad were booed off the field at the Stadium of Light, and more anger was audible in the closing stages at Anfield on Monday.

There is a growing perception that too many players do not care sufficiently about the Magpies’ failings, and with the likes of Cheick Tiote, Moussa Sissoko and Papiss Cisse all heavily linked with possible moves away from Tyneside this summer, there is every chance the current group will be broken up come the close season.

“I am hurt too,” countered Cabella. “We are all disappointed. The fans, every time, are angry, and it is normal. They want to see their team win. We lost five games in a row. I understand how the fans feel. They just want to see the team winning matches.

“Everybody is disappointed. We have gone five matches without a win, we have lost five games in a row, and that’s difficult for us. But we need to keep our heads up and keep working, even though Monday night was disappointing again.”

One of the most dispiriting aspects of Newcastle’s recent play has been a collective failing in front of goal. The Magpies have failed to score in five of their last seven matches, and Cabella accepts a lack of attacking potency is becoming an issue.

“It’s a problem,” he said. “But we concede every time too. We conceded in the first 15 minutes (against Liverpool), so at 1-0 it then became difficult up front. Sometimes we have opportunities and we need to score, we know that, but we also have to admit Liverpool were better.”