McClaren rued the injury to goalkeeper Tim Krul which will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
“He's a vital player, very important, and he'd get us 18 or 20 points a season with the way he plays,” Skysports.com quotes the former Nottingham Forest boss as saying.
The Englishman also said, as reported by The Shields Gazette, that he is not looking at the Premier League table at the moment.
Former Newcastle winger Gillespie has taken to Twitter to give his reaction to McClaren’s comments.
Keith Gillespie: Yesterday's press conference by McClaren was worrying. His comments on not looking at the table, Krul and pre season football were strange!
I always rated Alan Pardew so if you looked at results since the ongoing form doesn't look good! It's going to be a battle to stay up!