Steve McClaren promises to take Capital One Cup seriously

McClaren arrived as Newcastle manager keen to treat the cup competitions with respect, which is a step change from club policy in the past.

‘From the striker all the way back to (goalkeeper) Tim (Krul), we worked very hard for each other, ‘ said the Argentina global.

While not a victory, the point at Old Trafford pleased McClaren but he knows that there are still a lot of improvements to be made if he is to bring success to the club.

“We could get enough results to stay in the Premier League, then focus a little bit on the later rounds of the cup”.

“We looked around at various defenders when his position was in doubt, but we quickly decided that none of them matched up”.

And on the trip to Newcastle, Carr says: “We were quite a confident side, and I didn’t see any nerves at all”.

“When I was at Middlesbrough, it was the first major trophy in 128 years and to be perfectly honest they had been to Wembley quite a few times and had opportunities”, said McClaren.

“I think his relationship with the club and the seven years he’d already had here were important”.

“I have not even thought about dreaming of Wembley”.

McClaren insists Newcastle haven’t been alone in not previously classing the cups as a priority.

He added that, although they have yet to win this season, the signs are positive for his former club.

“It depends on what squad you have”.

“Hopefully we can win and move on to the next round and carry that into our next league game against Portsmouth on Saturday”.

It would be risky to get too carried away by one performance – albeit one that was significantly superior to what most people were expecting before kick-off – but Newcastle’s defensive display at Old Trafford on Saturday nevertheless provided a timely rebuttal to those who were citing the previous weekend’s capitulation against Swansea as evidence of a deep-rooted defensive problem.

“It will be the strongest I can possibly play to win the game”.