NEWCASTLE’S players have been adopting a united front as attention switches from the fall-out from the Magpies’ disastrous defeat at Brighton to the build-up ahead of Sunday’s return to action against Tottenham.

Javier Manquillo and Ryan Fraser have both conducted interviews with Newcastle’s in-house media channels in which they have sought to draw a line under events at the Amex Stadium and insisted that the clubs’ players remain committed to keeping the Magpies out of the bottom three.

With Steve Bruce still in place despite Newcastle’s capitulation at the hands of a Brighton side that are now four points clear of them – Lee Charnley oversaw a series of training-ground meetings on Monday that have been interpreted as a show of support for Bruce – attention has switched to the club’s under-performing players ahead of the weekend visit of Spurs.

For all that Bruce has rightly received plenty of flak for his side’s abject showing at the Amex, the manner in which Newcastle’s players meekly threw in the towel was every bit as alarming given the fragility of the two-point gap currently separating the Magpies from the bottom three.

Manquillo admits there has been some collective soul-searching in the last week or so, and is confident he and his team-mates will produce a positive reaction this weekend.

“Nothing went right on the night because we knew it was a really big opportunity to gain a boost in confidence and move forward,” said Manquillo. “One way or another, we really missed out on the chance. Now, I think we have to reassess things and think about the next game.

“Obviously, the atmosphere after missing out on that opportunity and losing 3-0, well it was tough to take and everybody realised that. But everybody is working really hard right now because we know that every one of those nine games are going to be difficult and we have to give everything in them.”

Fraser has spent most of the last week-and-a-half on international duty with Scotland, but the winger has also spelled out the need to put in an improved performance against Spurs on Sunday.

“We’re so disappointed and everyone’s gutted but we’re all going to try and make it right,” said Fraser. “The boys like myself will go away on international duty and come back with a mentality of pulling us out of the dirt.”