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Steve McClaren believes Newcastle United have “naturally developed” a style of play which brings the best out of Aleksandar Mitrovic - and that the goals will soon start to flow for the Serbian.

The 21-year-old forward has netted just four Premier League goals this season but his all-round play has improved dramatically in recent weeks following a run in the side.

Though McClaren accepts the £13million summer signing simply must hit the target more frequently - particularly given injuries to Papiss Cisse and Ivan Toney - he is adamant the goals will arrive soon enough for Mitrovic.

Asked if he was impressed by Mitrovic’s all-round game in recent weeks during an interview with BBC Newcastle, McClaren responded: “Absolutely. We mentioned it on Saturday after the game; if he’d have had a goal, that would have been icing on the cake for a great performance.

“He’s a presence up front. He puts himself about, he’s got a good attitude.

“When he puts the work in, he’s effective in that respect. He’s a nightmare for centre-backs.

“With the people that we’ve got, he’s our targetman that we need to get the ball to.

“I’ve lost count of the amount of passes he’s made with his chest. He’s effective in what he’s doing.

“He’s disappointed not to score. He will score, he can score. That will come.

“We’re pleased with his all-round game and his next progression is that he starts scoring regularly.”

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One aspect of Mitrovic’s game which has been particularly impressive in recent weeks has been his ability to control the ball on his chest.

Interestingly, McClaren believes Mitrovic’s Newcastle teammates have “naturally” learned how to get the best out of the forward, by playing balls high in for him to control on his chest or to flick on.

He added: “I think that’s something that’s just developed.

“You find that when the team plays together quite regularly, and you find out what’s the best combinations and the balance of the team.

“I think he’s found, and we’ve found, that actually before we were aiming a lot of the balls at his feet and trying to play through the lines.

“Teams were squeezing us and knowing that we weren’t going over them.

“Now we’ve found out that we can go over them and he can hold the ball up.

“If you put it (the ball) around his head, he’s very good in the air and he can compete. If you put it in that area, he’s also very good on his chest.

“It’s something that the rest of the team have actually looked at and, in training, developed naturally.

“It’s something that’s come naturally and you can see that, once that ball goes forward, with Mitrovic we know we’ve got a chance of doing that.

“Therefore we get the runners with Gini (Wijnaldum), the runners with Ayoze (Perez), the runners with Moussa (Sissoko).

“Whereas before we were waiting or we weren’t even playing that ball.”