Pardew puts defeat into perspective

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew insists his side are still in the hunt for a top-four finish despite losing to Wigan at the weekend.

The Magpies were beaten 4-0 at the DW Stadium, allowing both Tottenham and Chelsea to close the gap in the race for Champions League football.

Pardew apologised to fans for the result, but said the loss must be put into perspective: "Well it leaves us with three games to go on the same points as Tottenham, and one ahead of Chelsea. In that respect, we'd have settled for that at the start of the season."

He added: "To be a point above Chelsea is just outstanding, and if we've had a bad 45 minutes we apologise to our fans for that, and our supporters and our critics. But the bottom line is, we've still got three games and all to play for. We're absolutely delighted really."

Newcastle are back in Premier League action on Wednesday night when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.