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Shola Ameobi believes Newcastle United have enough “quality” to avoid the drop - and he has warned it is “essential” for the city that the club remains in the Premier League.

The 34-year-old, who is now playing for League One Fleetwood Town, experienced the bitter pain of relegation with his hometown club back in 2008-09.

However, former Nigeria international forward Ameobi also helped United return to the top flight at the first time of asking, but he does not think Newcastle can afford to drop out of the Premier League this season.

Despite that, United are third-bottom of the table with just a dozen games remaining.

The quality is there within the squad to stay up, insists Ameobi, it’s just about finding “consistency”.

Asked by The Chronicle if he was confident Newcastle would retain their top-flight status, Ameobi replied: “Yeah, I have to be because I am a fan first and foremost - I am desperate for them to stay up.

“The club, the fans and the city as a whole need Newcastle to be a Premier League side; it is essential. Every time I watch them, you can see there’s quality there.

“But it’s all about the consistency and being together as a team. Not conceding goals too, which we all know has been a serious issue.

“We’ve always had that at Newcastle and it’s all about what we do as a team offensively because we’re likely to concede goals, and I think if they can get that sorted they can get out of it.”

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Steve McClaren has tasted just six Premier League victories since taking over as Newcastle boss last summer, and Ameobi insists it was always going to be a “very difficult job” at St James’ Park.

Changing the team’s playing style and introducing a raft of new players into the squad is a difficult task, but Ameobi has backed McClaren to keep United up.

He added: “I know Steve McClaren has a very difficult job there, and he was always going to have coming in and having to embed loads of new players into the squad.

“He also wants to get his own style of play installed, which is totally different to the predecessor.

“It was always going to be difficult but I do believe we have enough to stay in the league, absolutely.”