Christian Atsu insists the club can do well without key players

Ghana and Newcastle United winger has asked his teammates to stick together following their opening day defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs after captain Jonjo Shelvey was red carded.

The toons were beaten 2-0 by Spurs on Sunday after in their League opener despite putting up an impressive performance following their return to the EPL.

“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,” Atsu told the club’s official website.

“We created a couple of chances but after the red card, when we had ten men, it became really hard,”

“We had to stick together. Individually, we knew they were better than us, so we needed to play as a team. We did that,” the 25-year-old winger added.

“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.”

Newcastle will be without key players Florian Lejune and Paul Dummet through injuries. And Captain Jonjo Shelvey has been suspended after he was red carded for impeding Delle Alli.

Atsu’s side are now scheduled to take on Huddersfield Town in their next league match which will be played at The John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday.

“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,” the Ghanaian international 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.”