Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew wants to stop rot

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has admitted that his side must bring an end to their poor run of form soon.

The Magpies lost for the fifth league game in a row on Saturday when Swansea City came from behind to win 2-1 at St James' Park.

Pardew has said that he is expecting an improvement from his team in their next two games against Arsenal and Cardiff City.

"We've got a lot of hard work to do before the Arsenal game," the Sunderland Echo quotes Pardew as saying.

"We definitely need to give a credible performance and hopefully get some points. Certainly, against Cardiff, we've got to win, whatever route it takes.

"Now we need to make sure we regroup this week. That was a body blow, really."

Newcastle currently sit ninth in the table.