After defeat to Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United chairman Chris Mort delivered an upbeat message to concerned fans.

Mort told the Evening Chronicle: "If we had put the chances in we would have been a couple of goals ahead and then been able to push on from there.

"Kevin Keegan has clearly got the team playing and we were caught out. Football is a cruel game and that can happen. If we maintain that level of performance I am sure results will come and come pretty soon."

And reflecting on the 1-0 loss at St James's Park in which Matty Derbyshire netted a last minute winner, Mort added: "I thought we played incredibly well.

"If you look at the number of chances we created, we missed a couple of open goals and their goalkeeper pulled off some fabulous saves.

"We dominated the match throughout. Blackburn to their credit did what away teams often do here. They soaked up a lot of pressure and hit us on the break.

"You can see the amount of passion that was out there and the amount of chances we created bodes well."