Carver: Newcastle are in relegation battle

John Carver admitted Newcastle United have been drawn into the relegation battle, after their sixth straight defeat.

Newcastle were as high as seventh in the Premier League table in December, having chalked up early-season wins over Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea.

That purple patch was preceded by a seven-match winless run to start the campaign, which began under Alan Pardew before he departed the club in January.

Under Carver’s interim leadership, Newcastle have picked up just nine points in 14 matches – their latest outing saw the club’s fans boycott their home 3-1 loss to Spurs on Sunday.

The defeat left them just seven points above the drop zone with five games to play.

“Absolutely, we are in amongst it,” said Carver, referring to the relegation struggle.

“You have sides – and I will use Leicester as an example – winning games. But we aren’t.

“We have to try to find a way of finding points.”

Carver suggested Newcastle might sacrifice style for points in the run-in, with fixtures against Swansea City, Leicester City (away), West Brom, QPR (away) and West Ham.

“We have to come up with a solution,” the 50-year-old said.

“I have to find a method of trying to play that might not be pretty on the eye. I need to find a way of getting some results.”