The Magpies head for Portsmouth tomorrow having stopped a sequence of three successive defeats with a 2-1 win at Sheffield United last Saturday and then followed it up with a 0-0 draw at home to Champions League-chasing Arsenal.

Roeder's players were applauded warmly from the pitch after very nearly collecting all three points against the Gunners, a response which could hardly have been in more stark contrast to the boos which had greeted them after a 1-0 defeat by Manchester City at St James' Park nine days earlier.

Harsh words were said both inside and outside the camp in the wake of that debacle, but Roeder is adamant no-one was more upset than the men who pulled on the black and white shirts that day.

He said: "I see these players day to day in training, I see these players after a game in the dressing room when we have been beaten and they are devastated, they really, really are upset.

"It really means something to them, winning in a Newcastle shirt. Some of those players took criticism which was very, very heavy and it hurt them.

"It hurt them losing, but the reaction from the fans hurt them.

"I have to stand up for my players, the players I know give 100% in every single game.

"You are not going to play to your best in every single game, but I cannot ask for any more and the fans cannot ask for any more than someone giving 100% effort in every single game."

However, having captained the club and enjoyed the best years of his playing career on Tyneside, Roeder is equally aware of the expectation of fans who have not seen a major trophy arrive at St James' in 38 years and no domestic prize for more than half a century.

He said: "The year I was born, 1955, was the last year this club won a domestic trophy, and yet the expectations now in 2007 are unbelievably high.

"I am happy that expectations are so high, that is the way I want it, that is the responsibility I want to have as the manager at a club like this.

"But we need to improve the squad during the summer to give us a real chance of filling the expectations of our fans."

The Magpies lie 10th in the Barclays Premiership table on 41 points, 10 points adrift of the top 10 and seven shy of the seventh place in which they finish last season.

Even a rousing finale seems unlikely to drag them back into the race for Europe, although Roeder's target is to collect as many points as possible and then take stock.

Strikers Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi returned to action after long-term injuries in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday, but neither is likely to figure at Fratton Park.