Alan Pardew: We are now in a survival battle

Mar 20 2011 by Mark Douglas, Evening Chronicle

ALAN PARDEW admits the pressure is back on Newcastle United to secure their Premier League survival after seeing his Toon side thrashed at Stoke.

After a 4-0 hammering at the Britannia Stadium, United sit just six points off the bottom of the table – and just four shy of the third relegation slot.

A nightmare day saw the Toon lose Jose Enrique to injury and have Cheick Tiote ruled out for the crunch home game against Wolves after picking up a harsh first-half booking.

While Pardew admits his team ARE engaged in a battle to survive, he says they have enough to beat Wolves in a fortnight and put daylight between themselves and the drop zone.

He said: "We were always very conscious we have never been that far away from that situation.

"The results and our scoreline is going to put pressure on us in terms of our next home game.

"The fourth goal goes in in the last minute of the game, we lose Cheick to a booking which means he has a suspension – it was one of those days you would like to forget.

"I think we have enough in the dressing room, enough quality, to win the next game and hopefully give ourselves some breathing space."

Meanwhile Pardew hopes to have Leon Best – ruled out through an ankle injury picked up on Thursday – back in time for the visit of Mick McCarthy’s men.