Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic insisted his side do not hold any fear as they prepare to face Manchester City on Saturday.
Manuel Pellegrini's side began the season in indomitable form, winning their opening five Premier League games without conceding a goal, but back-to-back defeats to West Ham United and Tottenham saw them surrender top spot to Manchester United.
Newcastle, by contrast, are without a win in their seven games so far and were dumped out of the League Cup with a 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
However, Steve McClaren's side delivered a much-improved performance in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea last weekend and Mitrovic is confident the result was proof that they can compete with the very best in England.
"We don't fear anybody," the 21-year-old, who returned from suspension against the champions, told the Newcastle Chronicle.
"They are a team we can beat for sure, like any team in the Premier League. We showed against Chelsea what we can do, especially in the first 45 minutes. We can play well against the big teams.
"Of course, we must continue to work hard and in the second half [against Chelsea] we dropped a little bit, we didn't play how we needed to. But okay, the players were a little tired and we can improve that this week."
Mitrovic, who joined Newcastle from Anderlecht in July, is still waiting to score his first goal for the club.
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