Newcastle must be better on the ball, says McClaren

LONDON (Reuters) - Manager Steve McClaren wants Newcastle United to be "better on the ball" when they host title hopefuls Arsenal at St James' Park on Saturday.

After picking up one point from his first two games in charge, the former England boss was delighted to come away from Manchester United with a 0-0 stalemate last week.

"To beat any of the top four teams you need to defend well, be compact and heroic," McClaren told a news conference on Friday.

"We need to repeat that and be better on the ball especially at home where we need to keep the ball better than we did last week. With a sell-out crowd behind us we can hopefully make it very difficult for Arsenal."

McClaren, who joined from Derby County in June, is hoping for a quiet end to the transfer window next week.

"We've not got anything up our sleeve and we have no intention of losing anyone," he said.

(Reporting by Steve Tongue; Editing by Tony Jimenez)