Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn heaped more pressure on the beleaguered Toon boss and several of Sunday's newspapers report he may now be just one defeat away from the sack.

The Ewood Park setback was Newcastle's fourth loss in five matches and a home defeat to league leaders Arsenal on Wednesday night could result in the end of Allardyce's reign at St James' Park after just six months.

The Sunday Times reports defeat would "almost certainly see Allardyce lose his job, and Alan Shearer take over the coaching role".

The man himself, however, was in defiant mood after watching his side beaten at Blackburn.

He insisted: "The support, the performance and commitment from everybody was terrific.

"The most disappointing thing of all is the most rucial thing of all - the result. And that is difficult to take after a performance like that and the support we've been shown.

"We were in control of game for long periods but unfortunately we fell foul of being caught on the break. That is the disappointing thing for me. When we got in front, instead of going 2-0 up we went 1-1. At that particular time Charles N'Zogbia had a chance to make it 2-0 but was wrongly ruled offside.

"They go up the other and score. While I am bitterly upset at the result, the performance was excellent."