The Magpies lost their opening game on return to the Premier League but Christian Atsu has encouraged his Newcastle United teammates to keep their self-belief intact.
Rafa Benitez and his men began their campaign at home, the St. James’ Park but failed to get the desired start against Tottenham Hotspur who beat them 2-0 on Sunday.
Captain Jonjo Shelvey was red carded for a stamp on Dele Alli and that proved the turning point of the game. The latter went on to score the opener on the hour mark with Ben Davies following up with the second goal ten minutes later.
Newcastle face Huddersfield Town on the road next Sunday and Atsu feels the team should build on the positives displayed against Spurs.
“We need to believe in ourselves, and continue to stick with our game-plans. We just need to keep our focus, keep working hard and try to win our next game.”
“We went into the game with a very strong mentality – trying to win. We did really well in the first half and made things difficult for them. We created a couple of chances but after the red card, when we had ten men, it became really hard,” the Ghana international told nufc.co.uk.
“We had to stick together. Individually, we knew they were better than us, so we needed to play as a team. We did that.
“We need to believe in ourselves, and continue to stick with our game-plans. We just need to keep our focus, keep working hard and try to win our next game.”
“The team is ready. Although we lost two players, you did not see any difference – you could see all the players are well-prepared for anything that happens,” he said. “We will need to win games before we become more confident, but I think the team is really solid and playing really well.
“We thank the fans for their support. They have been amazing. We will come back stronger to give them what they deserve.
Christian Atsu made his switch from Chelsea to St. James’ Park a permanent one earlier this summer.
