​McClaren: Newcastle struggling with a crisis of confidence

Newcastle boss Steve McClaren admits his players' confidence is low but is looking to the Liverpool game on Sunday to begin the climb out of the relegation places.

"Nobody is happy at this football club," he said. "We've lost the last two games and not performed very well. It's a remarkable turnaround. We had turned the corner. But confidence can be eroded as quickly as it comes."

And McClaren says fans should not be surprised if his side perform well against an in-form Liverpool outfit.

"That's what we've got to believe - that the next game is an opportunity to build a performance and get a result," he said. "All of a sudden the confidence comes flooding back. We've done that at certain times in the season. We did it after Watford, Sheffield Wednesday - it was poor. But Chelsea [a 2-2 draw]… what a response.

"We came back from the international break… Norwich, won 6-2 and you saw the confidence. Now we've had two poor performances and results.

"We believe in these players. Confidence is very fragile. But a result and a performance... it's an opportunity on Sunday to get that and build the confidence. When they are not confident they don't play very well. When they are confident they are good players, a good team."

McClaren said it was not character or desire his team lacks, but experience.

"People question it. It appears that way," he said. "But these are young players. This is what they are going through. This is an experience they have to go through, that bit of adversity at a big club.

"We felt we'd done it. But we've gone three steps forwards and five or six back. We've got to claw our way back again. That comes from within, from each other and generally it comes from good performances.

"We know where we are, we know the position we are in and we know how many games to go. But it's about Sunday. That's the next opportunity."