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Jamaal Lascelles believes that if Newcastle United repeat the same fight and desire they displayed against Swansea City, the Magpies are capable of beating anyone.

Champions League semi-finalists Manchester City will surely provide a far sterner test for the Magpies on Tuesday evening, but the 22-year-old defender does not fear the Sky Blues.

The centre-back publicly questioned some of his teammates’ passion following the 3-1 loss at Southampton, and his frank words seemed to force a reaction from the United squad. Now he wants to see a repeat performance against Man City.

Asked if Newcastle had to be ‘realistic’ going into their next two matches given that they take on in-form duo Man City and then Liverpool, Lascelles responded: “I don’t think we have to be realistic.

“On paper people would put them down to win, but Leicester are top of the league and nobody thought that would happen

“They’re 11 men and just because they’ve got a blue shirt on doesn’t mean they have to win.

“If you have a bit of fight and get after them it doesn’t matter.”

The St James’ Park crowd were understandably but unusually quiet for the majority of the victory over Swansea on Saturday, with the Toon faithful clearly nervous about the club’s perilous predicament.

And Lascelles believes it is up to the players to display the “fight” that will get Newcastle fans believing again.

“It’s good for them to see what we can do and the fight that we can have,” he added.

“We’ve given them a bit of belief, they stuck with and, in turn, we’ve given them a bit of hope as well.

“We showed fight and we got three points and our focus is now on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to repeat that same fight and desire which the fans want to see.”

Sergio Aguero netted five against Newcastle earlier in the season and has six in his last five Premier League games - including a hat-trick at the weekend.

Though Man City are in top form, Lascelles is certainly not worried.

The centre-back, who scored the Magpies’ opener against the Swans, added: “The desire has always been there.

“You have it as an individual and technically we’ve got great talent but we’ve not had the heart and fight.

“We have to show we’re giving 100 per cent and we should have been doing it all season, that’s the most frustrating thing.

“If we focus on Tuesday and show the same heart and desire then we can get a result.

“We have set our standard for now and it is the best thing for us having a game in a couple of days time in front of a full stadium.

“If we play like that and have the same fight, it doesn’t matter that it’s Man City.

“It’s a massive game.

“We’re 11 men, they’re 11 men and we’ll go again with the same attitude.”