O’Brien calls for big European effort by Magpies

NEWCASTLE defender Andy O’Brien admits his side must earn the right to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Under previous boss Bobby Robson the Magpies finished in the Premiership top four in two of the last three seasons - and chairman Freddy Shepherd has said reaching Europe’s top competition is the benchmark for success.

But Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United was the club’s third successive Premiership loss - their worst run since they lost five on the trot in the old Division Two in 1991-’92. O’Brien is aware his side now need to fight to get their season back on track.

“We’re working hard and we’re all trying to pull in that right direction. We need everybody, from supporters to the players, to give it everything. Hopefully we’ll get that fourth spot - we’ve got no right to get there, we’ve got to work for it and there are going to be ups and downs, but we’ve got to all stick together,” he said. Newcastle’s problems stem from a lack of goals - seven in their last six games in all competitions - and an unstable defence. They are currently 10th, six points adrift of fourth-placed derby rivals Middlesbrough, and a further four points behind Everton.

“Everton are a very big club and they would arguably say they should be there because they’re a big club,” said O’Brien. “They’ve had a lot of years where they’ve scrapped and they’ve just wanted to stay in the Premier League. It’s probably fair to say that over the last three years we’ve had a good run. People might not say that because we’ve finished fourth, third and fifth - had we finished fifth, fourth, third, people would be saying we’re going for second this year.

“You can look at it in numerous different ways, like our situation now. We went 10 games unbeaten, but now we’ve lost four out of five. Things change after every game, which we’re aware of, so obviously, we want to get that win.”