STEVE McCLAREN admits he will have to rein in Aleksandar Mitrovic’s aggressive streak after the summer signing was fortunate to avoid a debut red card in Newcastle United’s 2-2 draw with Southampton.

Mitrovic picked up one of the fastest bookings in Premier League history as he was awarded a yellow card for a reckless challenge on Saints full-back Matt Targett less than three seconds into his Magpies debut following a £12m summer move from Anderlecht.

The striker could well have been dismissed for the foul, and was extremely lucky to avoid further punishment minutes later for a stray elbow that left Southampton centre-half Maya Yoshida clutching his face on the ground.

The Northern Echo:

Steve McClaren gives his instructions from the touchline.

Newcastle claimed their first point of the season as goals from Papiss Cisse and Georginio Wijnaldum secured a deserved draw, with Graziano Pelle and Shane Long scoring headed goals for the Saints.

But McClaren admits his side would have struggled to hold on had Mitrovic seen red, and while the Serbian’s spiky character was part of the reason why Newcastle’s recruitment team were attracted to him, he will be told to temper the more explosive part of his personality.

“That’s what he is if you’ve seen him play,” said the Magpies head coach, who remains hopeful of making at least one more addition before the transfer window closes at the start of next month. “He certainly doesn’t hold back, and he wanted to come on and impress.

“He’s only a young lad and he’s going to be a player, you could see that. You could see how direct and strong he is, but we are quite fortunate because if he had got a red, I’m not sure we would have come back from that.”

With Ronald Koeman undergoing surgery to a damaged Achilles in his homeland, Southampton were led by the Dutchman’s brother, Erwin, and the stand-in boss was in no doubt that Mitrovic should have been dismissed by referee Craig Pawson.

Koeman felt Targett was fortunate to avoid serious injury, although he concedes that Mitrovic’s spiky personality should make him a valuable addition for the Magpies.

“I don’t really think he touched him, but if he had done, Matthew would have been in hospital,” he said. “It was dangerous. It was unnecessary to do that in the corner, but Mitrovic is a player like that. He’s a good player and a good signing for them, but I think he has to learn some things.”

While Mitrovic’s senior debut proved a controversial one, Newcastle’s two other summer signings enjoyed a successful introduction to life on Tyneside.

Chancel Mbemba, who was pictured arriving at St James’ Park before the game in a tuxedo, performed impressively at the heart of the back four, while Wijnaldum capped a fine attacking-midfield display with an excellent header from Gabriel Obertan’s cross.

Wijnaldum’s goal fired Newcastle into the lead after they had trailed to Pelle’s 25th-minute opener, and while Long’s late leveller prevented the Magpies claiming what would have been their first opening-weekend win since 2012, there were still plenty of positive aspects to the home side’s display.

Their attacking was much more potent than on the vast majority of occasions last season, while their response to falling behind also hinted at a stronger team spirit than was the case under John Carver.

“I didn’t quite know what to expect because it’s been a short pre-season,” said McClaren. “The only really decent game was (Borussia) Monchengladbach last week, and even that was a nice, gentle pace.

“Southampton looked like they’d played more competitive games than us, which they have because of the Europa League, but while I didn’t really know what to expect from us, I’m absolutely delighted with what I saw.

“For 75 minutes, the team were excellent. We didn’t play smart after that, but fatigue played a part. The game had everything. Have we learned anything? We’ve learned so much. Can we get better? Most definitely.”

The two negatives from a Newcastle perspective were the second-half back injury that saw Vurnon Anita leave the field on the stretcher – the midfielder hobbled away from the stadium ahead of a scan tomorrow – and the concession of two goals to crosses from the right-hand side.

“I don’t like conceding goals like that,” said McClaren. “Pelle was always a danger, and it was a terrific header from him, but we didn’t do enough to stop the cross or mark in the box to put him off.

“The second goal was probably even more disappointing than the first. It’s given us something to work on, but then we always thought there would be.”