Newcastle United boss Steve McClaren says he hasn’t been surprised by Watford’s impressive Premier League form and believes Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo were the difference between the two sides at St James’ Park this afternoon.

The Hornets clinched a 2-1 victory over the Magpies thanks to a brace from Odion Ighalo and have moved up to ninth in the early top flight table.

While several pundits and experts expected the Hornets to be struggling Quique Sanchez men have thrived in the top flight.

That hasn’t shocked McClaren, who faced the Hornets twice last season while in charge at Derby County.

He said: “I know Troy Deeney and Ighalo well and they have won the game for Watford today. They had a simple game plan but it was very effective. So the way Watford are playing and how they are performing hasn’t surprised me.”

The defeat leaves Newcastle second bottom of the Premier League table after six games and without a league victory.

The Magpies fans booed their side off at the end of today’s defeat and McClaren admits things will have to change.

“I always say you are where you deserve to be,” McClaren said. “I said at the beginning judge us after ten matches and I’d still say the same.

“The next two matches are tough but this is a tough job. It wasn’t a case of coming and, turning the page and everything will change.

“We’re changing a lot of things and introducing a lot of things. In my short time here we’ve had good, we’ve had bad and we’ve had indifferent. And I said it would be hard and it is.”

He continued: “I can understand the fans reaction but we are trying to turn things around. I think the fans understand that.

“We’ve said to the lads in the dressing room that it is not a crisis and it is not a time to panic. We wouldn’t do that anyway, we’ve got too much to experience to do that.

“I’ve said to the players that we’ve got to stick together. We will get a lot of criticism and that will come from not just the media, but the fans, “We’ve got to stay tight in the dressing room and we know deep down there is a lot to work on. You don’t do that talking about it. We can’t defend it. We’ve just got to get on the training field, work on it and look forward to it.”