Alan Pardew blasts poor Newcastle United defending

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has blamed "soft defending" for his team's 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage this evening.

The Magpies have failed to win away from home this season and now find themselves lingering just four points above the relegation zone.

Pardew believes that his side went to sleep when defending Damien Duff's free kick, allowing Hugo Rodallega to nod home the winner.

"It's a really soft second goal," Pardew told Sky Sports News. "A soft free kick, [and] soft defending on the free kick. You can't do that at this level because we had the game by the scruff of the neck at this point.

"We played some of our best attacking football of the season, but we've still come away with nothing. Performances don't get you points. In the second half we were terrific other than those two or three moments.

"We've got no-one to blame but ourselves."

Newcastle welcome Manchester City to St James' Park on Saturday.