LAST week, Steve McClaren likened the development of his new-look Newcastle United team to learning how to play the piano. On Saturday, after a 2-2 draw with champions Chelsea, a famous Morecambe and Wise sketch came to mind. Sporadically, there is evidence that all the right notes are there; the challenge is working out how to play them in the right order.

Having impressed in previous matches against Manchester United and Arsenal, Newcastle’s players once again delivered a performance packed with commitment, desire and no little skill as they claimed their third point of the season.

The search for a first Premier League victory goes on, but while late goals from Ramires and Willian cancelled out earlier strikes from Ayoze Perez and Georginio Wijnaldum, this was a display that stood in marked contrast to the desperate recent efforts that resulted in home defeats to Watford and Sheffield Wednesday.

A charitable assessment of the discrepancy would state that these are still early days in the genesis of a new team and highlight the fact that McClaren readily admits he is still searching for his best line-up.

A less tolerant observer, however, might point to Saturday’s display as further evidence of Newcastle’s damaging tendency to pick and choose the matches in which they decide to turn up. Belligerent against the big boys; limp against the lesser lights.

“I think maybe one of the reasons why Newcastle over the years don’t get good positions is because of this mentality,” said Jose Mourinho, with typical bluntness. “It’s because they choose some matches to sweat blood and, in other matches, they don’t. This is an attitude typical of a team that wins nothing.”

An unfair assessment? Even a cursory flick through the history books suggests not, with Saturday’s result extending Mourinho’s winless run at St James’ Park to six league matches and maintaining Newcastle’s tradition for confounding expectations against the biggest teams in the division. Even McClaren was forced to concede the validity of the Chelsea manager’s comments.

“I will be levelling the same (accusation) at the players,” said the Newcastle head coach. “He is exactly right. We did it at Old Trafford, against Arsenal and now Chelsea. So, come on, this is a tough league and you have to do it every week.”

It hardly says much about the character of Newcastle’s players if they are only capable of rousing themselves when they are thrust into the spotlight of a big occasion, and one of McClaren’s toughest challenges will be to instil a sense of responsibility and duty into a group that have been branded ‘tuxedo princes’ thanks to their unorthodox choice of match-day attire.

Only time will tell whether the latest influx of overseas recruits can be moulded into a unit that displays sufficient respect for the obligations that go along with the black-and-white shirt, but after the acute embarrassment of last week’s Capital One Cup exit, at least this was a display that hinted at better times ahead.

The return of Aleksandar Mitrovic following a three-game ban was a key development, with the £12m summer signing providing a much-needed focal point at the head of the attack and repeatedly unsettling both Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma with his aggressive approach and aerial prowess.

Perez’s return to the starting line-up was another important factor, and having tried a number of different players in the crucial ‘number ten’ role, McClaren will surely be concluding that the Spaniard is currently the best bet.

His energy and speed make him a more potent threat than Wijnaldum, who in turn looked much more comfortable in the more focused environment of a left-midfield role.

“We have not had Mitrovic for three games, and we need that,” said McClaren. “The way we want to play, he is such an important part of it. If you do not have that presence and ability, then Perez does not have the freedom to play like he does.

“I really didn’t want to take him (Mitrovic) off, but he will get fitter and stronger. We’re yet to see him scoring goals, and that is the next test. But when it comes to improving our team, he certainly did that.”

Mitrovic glanced an early header wide to serve notice of his threat, but it was Perez who claimed the opener three minutes before the break. While Zouma erred as he failed to read the flight of Vurnon Anita’s cross, there was still much to admire in Perez’s composed finish.

Newcastle doubled their lead on the hour mark, with Wijnaldum losing Cesc Fabregas in order to head home Perez’s corner, and at that stage, a first league victory looked on the cards.

Fabricio Coloccini, so out-of-sorts in some of his most recent appearances, was in one of his more commanding moods, and Kevin Mbabu, fresh from his debut appearance on Wednesday night, was superb at left-back.

The Swiss 20-year-old couldn’t get a game for Rangers when he moved to Ibrox on loan last season, but he could hardly have been more impressive as he rendered former Barcelona forward Pedro anonymous for most of the night.

Gradually, however, Newcastle’s grip on the game loosened, and the introduction of Ramires, Willian and Radamel Falcao enabled Chelsea to gain the upper hand.

The visitors reduced the arrears when Ramires rifled an unstoppable long-range shot into the top left-hand corner, and while Pedro blazed over when clean through, Chelsea levelled when Willian’s floated free-kick evaded everyone and sailed past Tim Krul.

“It has been like World War Three in the last ten days,” said McClaren. “We expect that, but I have seen evidence that we can improve.

“I see them in training every day, and they can play. They can. They have performances like that in them. If we had just won, it would have been an absolute high, but we have still shown something important.”