Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has called on Fulham to stand by manager Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Cottagers are bottom of the table during international week.

But Shearer declared: "Many managers have been sacked for less - and I understand why clubs panic and make changes when there is an international break - but there are still reasons Jokanovic should get more time.

"He was given more than £100m to build a new team over the summer, so 12 games in seems very early to decide he is now not good enough.

"Jokanovic has a track record of improving after slow starts too - last November, the Cottagers were 17th in the Championship after winning only four of their first 17 games, but they went on to win promotion.

"By the sounds of it, the Fulham fans are still behind him, and another encouraging thing is who they are up against in the battle to stay up.

"Although Fulham look like a very poor team at the moment, there are six others of a similarly low standard at the bottom of the table - so you cannot write any of them off.

"It is refreshing that no Premier League clubs have changed their managers yet, but clearly Jokanovic's future depends on results improving quickly."