Steve McClaren insists Newcastle players are trying to turn things around

The ascending star of Jurgen Klopp collides with Steve McClaren’s hurtling meteor tomorrow as the German’s re-energised Liverpool tackle the former England manager’s free-wheeling Newcastle United.

The Daily Mirror have suggested McClaren has the next two games against Liverpool and Tottenham to save his job, while some bookmakers have made him the favourite to become the next Premier League manager to get the sack.

Although managing director Lee Charnley is supposedly in charge of all football decisions, Telegraph Sport understands it is Ashley who makes the final call on everything and he is understandably alarmed by Newcastle’s league position, particularly McClaren’s apparent inability to get to grips with the problems in the dressing room. I know what the process is and I know what the job is. We know what needs doing.

“It is a game which we know – and the players know – we’d better be at our best in terms of attitude, work-rate and all the nitty-gritty things to keep this Liverpool team at bay, because they are the form team in the Premier League at the moment”.

“It’s football, so you never know”, McClaren said.

“We came in on Sunday to get a quick talk and recovery for the guys who didn’t play, to do a good session, so everybody was ready to train today and focus on the next game”.

“If I need to know more of Newcastle, I would take information”.

The Black Cats have climbed off the foot of the table since the arrival of Sam Allardyce as boss in October, winning three games to move two points clear of the drop zone.

Who’s fit in the Newcastle United squad?

“Captaincy and leadership are not about one player, they are about everybody”.

Colback believes fragile confidence and lack of mental strength represent key reasons for the refusal of Newcastle’s equation to balance. I can see what (Borussia) Dortmund had in the Liverpool team.

“It is the same with every football club when you don’t win matches”, he said.

But McClaren said: “I tend not to listen to pundits on Match of the Day or any other programme”.

“We go into games wanting to win, but we go behind and that belief goes”.

Defender Mike Williamson returned from a loan spell at Wolves this week but within 48 hours had injured his hamstring during a training session.

“I’ve got confidence in these players because three weeks ago I was happy, we’d had a good two weeks going into the worldwide break thinking that we’d turned the corner a little bit and looking forward to the challenges ahead”.

“We don’t (have many options) we have 18 players”.