STEVE MCCLAREN has warned his Newcastle United players that they need to display a fighting mentality if they are to avoid a relegation battle this season.

The Magpies’ 6-1 defeat at Manchester City placed McClaren’s side at the foot of the Premier League going into the international break, where Sergio Aguero scored five times on a sorry day for United.

Newcastle were leading for 25 minutes at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first goal for the club, but Aguero restored parity before half-time and tormented the Magpies after the interval alongside Kevin De Bruyne, scoring a further five goals in a mad 13-minute spell.

McClaren reiterated that changing the mentality at the club remains his priority.

“This was never going to be easy. It’s proving now how difficult it is,” said McClaren of his task. “When you can get spells in games where you look very good, and other spells where there’s a collapse in 13 minutes. That’s not going to get us anywhere.

“We’re in a fight, and what do you need, you need fighters. So we have to come out in two weeks’ time and fight. The team’s capable of doing that. There’s top quality there. In the first half we came here to win. If we got the second it might have been different. It wasn’t – we have to react better to goals that go in.

"In the last 12 to 18 months that (weakness) has been the problem at this football club.

"We're here to turn that around and we're going to do whatever it takes to turn that around and you're absolutely right - that is difficult job. That is a tough job to do.

As the goals were flying in from all angles at Eastlands, McClaren was sinking further down his seat in the dugout, and was left in no doubt that the penny needs to drop with his players.

"They're going to have to start getting (it) otherwise we're in the fight for the rest of the season,” said McClaren.

"We've pointed that out over the last few weeks and to be fair the performances over the last two games have been ones of fight and quality - there's a team in there.

"We've just got to have some consistency and we have to deal with setbacks a little bit better than presently.

"It’s something in the history and we knew it would be hard to turn around."

McClaren has spoken about having patience, and insists that he has the full support of managing director Lee Charnley to turn things around on Tyneside.

"We've spoken from day one about this. In fact he has probably stressed it more than I did about how much it would take, and about how much time it would take,” said the York-born head coach.

"He said: 'This is a job for an experienced person.' And that is why we're here.

"We've got an experienced staff who can cope with this and deal with this.

"Will it turn around over night? No.

"But there's a reality from everybody looking that that's where we are and it's up to us now, it's our responsibility now to turn that around."