Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew's striker woes have worsened with Shola Ameobi's injury suffered in defeat at Fulham.
Newcastle would have been without Andy Carroll anyway had he not been sold, as the striker was injured.
"He's irrelevant to what happened tonight," said Pardew.
"Shola's been very important to us, though. His performances have been very good.
"It was just disappointing tonight to lose him in such a manner."
He added of the impact of Carroll's departure: "I really want to talk about the game, but it is a factor on the game, so I'm not going to shy away from it.
"I thought the response from our fans was terrific tonight.
"They could've been super-negative about it and given us a hard time, or given me a hard time."
