Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce insists his tactics are spot on.

"Resilience is the order, being determined to not let the opposition do what they want to do and to stop them," Allardyce said. "We're in the business of results, so you've got to stop the opposition. From that position you can then expose your own strength and try and expose their weaknesses. Newcastle have been trying to impose themselves on the opposition for far too long and not winning away from home."

After a run of four matches without a win Allardyce is clearly struggling to get that message through to his players, some of whom are reputed to be less than enamoured by his approach, but the former Bolton Wanderers manager does not believe he needs to raise his own game.

"No, I don't," he said. "I know what's good, I know what's bad, I know what it takes to win. I know what to do and I've been doing it for 17 years."