Georginio Wijnaldum has urged Newcastle United to play freely as they look to get their flailing season back on track.

The Magpies were dumped out of the Capital One Cup at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday night, adding further misery to the early part of their campaign, which has them languishing at the foot of the Premier League table.

Ahead of the weekend's visit of reigning champions Chelsea, Dutch midfielder Wijnaldum says the best way to get back on top is to improve the overall attitude while playing as men with freedom in order to break the scoring shackles.

"I think the attitude," he said. "We must stay positive because if we don't it is going to go wrong. We need men now out on the field.

"On top of that I think we must play free. Sometimes I have the idea that we play with a lot of pressure on us because the results are not going well, but we must play free because then it is going to get better."