Fabricio Coloccini has insisted that Newcastle United can mix it up with the best teams in the Premier League but admits that there are no easy games in the division.

The Magpies have proved to be inconsistent at times this term, managing to pick up victories against title contenders Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur yet losing to relegation candidates Hull City and Sunderland.

"Sometimes we have not done well against the teams who are down near the bottom of the table," Coloccini told The Mirror. "Maybe we have thought it was going to be easy. That is dangerous.

"Against the big teams your motivation and concentration are always high, but we need to be at the same level.

"We have shown we can compete with the best teams in the Premier League, but now it is up to us to keep our performances at that level. We all want the same, Newcastle to be playing well and back in the top 10."

Newcastle currently sit eighth in the Premier League table.