Pardew praises fans but still feeling the heat

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew believes Wednesday’s League Cup success over Crystal Palace has done little to ease the pressure on him.

The 53-year-old has come in for criticism among some Newcastle supporters after a dismal second half of the 2013-14 campaign and a winless start to the current league season.

After five Premier League outings, Newcastle sit bottom of the table with just three points to their name, although a 3-2 extra-time victory at Palace in the League Cup, sealed by Paul Dummett, may have lifted some of the gloom around St James’ Park.

At last weekend’s 2-2 home draw with Hull City, some supporters brandished posters reading ‘Sack Pardew’, and the former Southampton manager knows one win will not bring a change of mood overnight, despite hailing the travelling contingent at Selhurst Park on Wednesday,

“I thought our fans were terrific, they made a conscious effort to support the team,” he said.

“The pressure’s not going to go away from us while we’re Newcastle United and we sit bottom of the league and we haven’t won a Premier League game.

“We’ve got to put that right and we’ve got two tough away games [against Stoke City and Swansea City].

“We’re here for the long haul and we’ve got a lot of games to go.

“There’s a big, big season still to play. This season there’s still all to play for and we’re looking forward to building on this small step.”

Newcastle return to league action away to Stoke City on Monday.