Federico Fernandez reveals the two things that can get Newcastle a result against Arsenal

Federico Fernandez believes hard work and team spirit will be key

Rafa Benitez’s third-bottom side are without a Premier League win this season.

The club has suffered narrow defeats to champions Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and drawn against newly-promoted Cardiff City.

And ninth-placed Arsenal, beaten 2-1 on Tyneside last season, are next at St James’s Park on Saturday.

Summer signing Fernandez has pointed to the “positives” he and his team-mates have taken from the first four league games.

“We knew it would be a tough start to the season for us,” said the defender, who has started the club’s last two league games.

“We were thinking we could maybe have two or three more points, but this is football.

“I think the positive thing is the team spirit and the hard work. We carry on in this way.

“At home it will be different. We need to start winning games.”

Fernandez and those players not on international duty have been working over the past week.

And preparations for the visit of Arsenal will be stepped up later this week when the rest of Benitez’s players report back to the club.

Fernandez, signed from Swansea City, believes the team will be ready for Unai Emery’s side.

“We played three games against top, top sides,” said the 29-year-old.

“We were very close. We had the penalty against Cardiff in the last minute.

“It’s now time to rest and work in training.

“We have Arsenal at home. We need to be ready to take points. We need it.”

Martin Dubravka, on international duty with Slovakia, has echoed Fernandez’s sentiments.

“We’ve played against very tough opponents, and in all of the games, they were very close and we’ve missed a little bit of luck, especially against Tottenham,” said the goalkeeper.

“We could easily have taken a draw against Chelsea. Unfortunately we didn’t win against Cardiff, but we created chances, and if we play like we did against Manchester City, especially in the second half, we can be successful.

“It was a tough game, but it showed that we have brilliant players ourselves, and we have confidence for the next games.”