Newcastle boss Steve McClaren on red alert
Steve McClaren is convinced Newcastle can prosper in the Barclays Premier League providing they keep 11 men on the pitch.
The Magpies have been reduced to 10 players three times in their opening 10 games of the league campaign and lost on each occasion.
Swansea, Arsenal and Sunderland have made the most of the premature departures of Daryl Janmaat, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Fabricio Coloccini respectively.
Coloccini successfully appealed against the red card he was shown at the Stadium of Light last weekend, although that simply served to strengthen the sense of injustice following a 3-0 defeat in a game which Newcastle were dominating before referee Robert Madley intervened.
Manager McClaren, whose side face Stoke at St James' Park on Saturday, said: "If we play like that and keep 11 players on the pitch, we will win eight or nine out of 10 games. You can see the progress. Some of our football was fantastic and that's progress.
"You don't have to be rocket scientists and experts in football to know that we dominated that game. We felt a lot of injustice against us.
"But you can't feel sorry for yourselves and you have to get back to work. We have done that, I think the fans have moved on quickly and what we have got to do is keep reproducing those performances week in, week out.
"We have shown what we are capable of doing and at times, our football was excellent. We created chances, which we weren't doing earlier in the season, so when I look in the long term, keep 11 players on the park and I can see this team winning games.
"In the short term, we'd like to start winning tomorrow."
McClaren, who will be without midfielder Jack Colback for up to six weeks with a knee injury suffered against the Black Cats, had asked to be judged 10 games into his reign, but admits an eventful few months have rather hampered progress.
He said: "It's been a roller coaster 10 games in every aspect. In three of those games, we have played with 10 men for well over 45 minutes. There have been injustices in some and then other performances, we have performed well, so we have been very up and down, very inconsistent.
"The last two games in terms of performance, we have been kind of consistent, and that's what we need going forward."
Meanwhile, Stoke boss Mark Hughes feels Jack Butland is growing in stature by the day and expects a major tussle ahead between the goalkeeper and Joe Hart for an England starting spot.
Butland on Tuesday capped his latest impressive performance of 2015-16 by winning a penalty shoot-out for the Potters in the Capital One Cup against Chelsea, making the decisive save from Eden Hazard's kick.
The 22-year-old, getting his first proper run as a Barclays Premier League number one this term, also made his second senior England appearance earlier this month.
Speaking at his press conference for Stoke's trip to Newcastle, Hughes said: "Jack is playing exceptionally well and is full of confidence, which is a big thing for goalkeepers.
"He is enjoying his work and being number one here - it is what he believes he should be.
"He is growing day on day in terms of his presence and influence on the team and that is credit to him."
Manchester City's Hart, 28, is England's established first-choice goalkeeper, but Hughes said: "I think Jack will play many games at international level.
"There is an exceptional goalkeeper in Joe Hart ahead of him at the moment, who is still a very young man himself.
"So there will be great competition for that position in the years to come and I think if Jack keeps fit and well and progressing at the rate he is at the moment, it will be a huge choice for whoever is the England manager - but a nice choice to have."
After Butland's heroics helped them into the cup quarter-finals, Stoke head to Newcastle looking to return to winning ways in the league, having lost 2-0 to Watford last weekend - a result which halted a run of top-flight victories that had reached three games.
Marc Muniesa will miss the trip having being ruled out for a month by a hamstring problem.
Muniesa joins Geoff Cameron (thigh) on the sidelines after sustaining the injury during the triumph against Chelsea, while Phil Bardsley is suspended following his sending off in that game, but fellow defender Erik Pieters is available again, having served a ban.
Glen Johnson and Bojan Krkic are also set to be back involved after sitting out the cup tie, as is the on-loan Marco van Ginkel, who was ineligible against his parent club.
Source: PAR
