Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has jumped to the defence of Leon Best after withering criticism from Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni.

The Newcastle manager was asked what he thought of Trapattoni's lazy label.

And he said: "I still don't know where he gets that from. Perhaps he should come up here and see him play. How many times has he been up here to see him. Never?

"Well come on if he wants to see the guy I can tell him, and I can show him the stats. Come and watch us play. We are at Fulham on Saturday, 3pm!"