Steve Bruce insists Newcastle United squad ARE playing for him – and Man City performance proved that

Bruce is full of praise for the way his side conducted themselves in the 2-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad, even if it only presented a marginal improvement on the three games previous.

And he believes a similar show against Liverpool will go some way to dispelling the ‘myth’ the United squad are not playing for him.

"By their reaction, there was certainly a togetherness, an attitude and an application amongst them,” he said.

"And yes they understand they were beaten by the better team on the night. They way they stuck together on the night, I couldn't have asked for any more.

“And I hope that came through on the TV. I noticed it pitch side.”

Four games against sides who were all plying their trade in the Championship at some point in 2020 has been swiftly followed up by two games against arguably England’s top two sides to close the year out.

Below-par performances in all four of those games – which did, for balance, register four points out of nine as well as a Carabao Cup exit – came prior to the minor improvement at City.

“They are human beings and obviously the criticism hurts,” said Bruce, whose recent comments have angered fans.

"But I hope to create a mentality that we can roll our sleeves up and shut a few people up. The only way we can do that is by getting results and working as hard as we can.”

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