Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren has said that he could not fault the effort of his players after the Magpies fell to a 1-0 defeat away at Stoke City.

In a game of few chances, Xherdan Shaqiri netted the only goal nine minutes from time to leave Newcastle in the relegation zone, but despite the setback, McClaren praised his team and backed them to turn things around sooner rather than later.

The 54-year-old told BBC Sport: "I couldn't fault the players. We were organised, hard to beat, compact and we frustrated Stoke.

"They had one shot in the second half and scored. If we continue that hard work then we'll get what we deserve."

Newcastle are next in action when they host Bournemouth at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon.