GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM admits Newcastle United’s attacking players are struggling to express themselves as the pressure caused by their winless run continues to mount.

Wednesday’s Capital One Cup humiliation at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday followed a run of six Premier League matches without a victory, and added to the sense of crisis that is engulfing St James’ Park just a month-and-a-half into the season.

Despite Sheffield Wednesday resting ten of their senior players for the League Cup game, Newcastle did not record a single shot on target until Wijnaldum trundled an 85th-minute effort straight at goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith, and while the absence of Papiss Cisse and Aleksandar Mitrovic was a factor in the Magpies’ impotence, the general lack of creativity and vision was a source of major alarm.

Wijnaldum, who arrived amid great fanfare in a £14.5m move from PSV Eindhoven this summer, accepts his side are failing to offer enough of a goalscoring threat, and while reigning champions Chelsea will hardly make things easy when they visit St James’ Park this weekend, the Dutchman has urged his team-mates not to retreat further into their shells.

“I think that we must be more brave,” said Wijnaldum. “We must stay positive because if we don’t stay positive, it is going to go wrong. We need men now out on the field, players who want to work hard and give everything to get a good result.

“But on top of that, we must also play free. Sometimes, I have the idea that we play with a lot of pressure on us because the results are not going well, but we must play free because then it is going to get better.

“In the difficult times you have in football, when it is not going well, you have to play free and show your quality. I think we have quality, but we’re not showing it at the moment. I think we must work hard on the field, and play free to make things happen.”

Wijnaldum had the pick of a number of European sides when he decided to leave PSV this summer, but he opted to move to Newcastle because he envisioned being part of a side that was pushing for a European place in the top half of the table.

Instead, the season already looks like developing into a morale-sapping relegation campaign, and the 24-year-old freely admits he did not foresee the current crisis when he completed his pre-season training.

“It’s really hard, but it’s a situation I have to deal with,” he said. “All I can do is work hard, stay positive and look forward.

“That is what I am doing – now, I must work harder to get better results, that is what we must all do as a team.”

In fairness to Wijnaldum, whose form has been a major disappointment since he impressed in the opening-weekend draw with Southampton, it might help if he was played in a clearly-defined position that plays to his strengths.

On Wednesday, he was asked to perform in a defensive-midfield role alongside Vurnon Anita, and appeared uncertain whether to push forward and join the attack or sit deep in order to help protect a previously untried back four.

“In this kind of situation it is not about me,” he said. “It is about the team and what the trainer asks of me. That is what I will do. We must perform as a team and do things as a team together.

“I played controlled midfielder (against Sheffield Wednesday), and I prefer to play a little bit higher. But if the team needs a controller and someone who can make dribbles, that is what I can do.”

Chelsea will arrive on Tyneside buoyed by last weekend’s league win over Arsenal and Wednesday’s convincing League Cup victory at Walsall.

They will be without the suspended Diego Costa though, and with Chelsea having lost on their last three visits to St James’, Wijnaldum feels tomorrow’s game could be the ideal opportunity for Newcastle to start turning their season around.

“I think Chelsea is a good opportunity to get a good result,” he said. “That would give us a lot of confidence and faith in the team. If we beat them, it would give us a good step to build on for the next game.

“We are in a difficult situation because we are losing games. Football is always difficult when you are losing because you lose confidence, but you must keep faith in yourself and each other, and help each other out.”