Daily Mirror match report

Jonas Gutierrez has revealed there was anger in the Newcastle dressing room after a fifth game without a win.

Perhaps that shows how the bar has been raised at St James’ Park this season.

Alan Pardew’s men are clinging to their top-seven dream, but there is a sense of a season stalling that must be addressed on Wednesday at home to West Brom.

In fact Gutierrez wants Newcastle to forget the comfort zone they have built with their -previously excellent start – and live in the present.

It was not a bad performance against Swansea. They dominated possession and twice hit the -woodwork, Fabricio Coloccini and Demba Ba (right) the unlucky ones.

But there was a slight lethargy after the break, a lack of ruthlessness that had characterised their charge into the top three a couple of months ago. Perhaps it was because key men like Coloccini, Cheik Tiote and Leon Best were back from injury and bedding back in to what was a full strength XI apart from the long term absence of Steven Taylor.

Certainly a resilient and -organised Swansea, who showed they know how to dig out a result as well as play neat passing -football, played their part

in stopping -Newcastle’s flow.

Whatever the reasons, Pardew will be anxious to end before Christmas the winless run which has brought just two points from 15, and Argentinian winger -Gutierrez had his own message.

“What we’ve done before now is important, but we have to think about the future,” he said. “We have to think about what we’re doing now. December and January are really important times for us.

“I want to win, I wanted the three points. You saw what happened, we got a point but I’m angry it wasn’t three.

“No, it’s not a good point. I think we did enough to deserve more than a draw, but that’s football. Their keeper made some good saves, but we had the chances to win it. It’s not a good point for us at all.

“It was different in the second half, we didn’t have the same amount of chances, but we had control of the ball and we had the possession so we should have made that count.

“It was a big game for us, and in these games we need the three points.

“It’s important we have a full squad, it builds -confidence. When you don’t have a full squad, like last week at Norwich where we had two central defenders out of -position, it’s hard for the players there and it’s hard for the team.

“Now we have to focus on working hard and waiting for the other players to come back from injury because in January it’s going to be very hard.”

in the display, but will have had questions about the lack of positive impact from Gabriel Obertan. You also have to wonder what Hatem Ben Arfa has done to not get on as a door-opening sub. Poor attitude behind the scenes?

Pardew said: “We want the possibility of the top six. I’m not happy with the draw. But as a -profes-sional looking at my team, I was quite pleased with a lot of things apart from the result.”

Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers asked his players to “trust” his way of playing, and his message got through. They now have eight clean sheets in 16 games, a statistic that rubbishes the image City can pass but not defend.

Rodgers said: “It’s a great point for us. A couple of years ago a lot of these guys came up here and lost 3-0 so it shows psychologically how much we’ve developed. It’s a great tribute to them. It’s all about confidence, that’s the big -difference.

“I said to the players when I first came in, ‘Listen, I’m probably an unknown quantity to a lot of you but you’ve got to trust me. I believe in this way of playing and this philosophy and we have to defend this principle of playing. If you work hard, and trust each other, we will develop and progress’.

“We train to the same principles. It’s not the right or the wrong way but what suits us. The players have had success from it.

“We’ve come into the Premier League and been able to do very well. It’s confidence and you need that when you come to places like St James’.”