Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew says they must spend to stay up.

He has warned fans who think the Toon are too good to go down after last season's fifth-place finish that they're kidding themselves.

Pardew said: "We shouldn't be lost to the fact that we could be relegated and that's an important message for our fans.

"We definitely need a player or two in this window to make sure of our Premier League ­status. Our squad is too weak.

"Some of the teams I have had to put out haven't been strong enough for Newcastle.

"We're going to have to ­battle down there and it's about time we realised we're going to have to battle.

"Financially, we're a well-run club, but we know that we need to invest in our team because other clubs will, if not now, then in the summer."