Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew admits he's unsure if he has the support of chairman Mike Ashley.

Pardew, 51, signed a mega eight-year deal last September but that might not save him, even if he avoids the drop.

He said: "It is out of my hands. My job, until I am told otherwise, is to get this team as it can be for next week and that is what I will do."

Asked if he expected to be backed by Ashley, he added: "I hope so, yes.

"That is probably the heaviest defeat I have had as a manager and for me there were a lot of things that I saw which I didn't like.

"I am angry but I have to channel that anger in the right way. I will make sure we put it right. And that started straight after the game in that dressing room. That is the key.

"The players are very much aware of the situation that we are in and I don't think they need a lot of telling.

"We need to make sure when we start on Monday morning that we work really hard to show this city that we have the fight for it.

"I think there are a lot of people who will look at us after tonight, especially on the TV and absorb that game, and think that we have a great chance of being relegated.

"We have to prove them wrong."