David Beckham has admitted Real Madrid need to be more consistent if they are to have any hope of catching Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Real blew a wonderful opportunity to close the gap on Barcelona when they went down 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, having seen their rivals drop a point in their 1-1 draw with Numancia.

Despite the latest setback, Beckham believes Real can still overcome Barcelona.

“We are not at the stage where we were last year, when we weren’t playing well,” said Beckham.

“Two defeats in the league is tough because we need to get points back on Barcelona.”

Beckham has attributed their latest defeat to a virus which swept through the squad on the eve of the game.

“I still felt sick on the night before the game and on the morning of the game, but I wanted to be in the team,” he said.

The England skipper admits that the pressure on the players is growing as they seek to avoid the igmony of going through a second successive season without winning a trophy.

“I think everyone at the club is aware of it,” he added. “It is up to the players to put it right.

“We didn’t do that at Deportivo, but we did against Juventus (in the UEFA Champions League) and now we need to get that consistency.”