Manager Alan Pardew has asked Newcastle fans to "rally" behind his side after striker Shola Ameobi suffered an injury that could keep him out for a month.

On Monday star striker Andy Carroll left for Liverpool and 10 minutes into the 1-0 loss at Fulham, Ameobi came off with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

"Shola's injury has not helped our cause, it's another blow following the one on Monday," said the Magpies boss.

"We need to rally together and I thank them for their support at Fulham."

Newcastle played most of the match with the largely untested pairing of Leon Best and substitute Nile Ranger in attack.

The duo failed to make much of an impact in a match that came to life in the second half.

But it was Fulham who dominated and created most of the chances on the night and should have scored more than the solitary goal delivered by the boot of Damien Duff.

"We did not play well enough tonight," added Pardew.

"The pitch was not the best and didn't help either team, but we did not threaten enough and we could have been a lot better.

"They didn't let us play much, it was a tight, tense affair. But we have Arsenal on Saturday and hopefully we will come away with better points."

Meanwhile, Fulham manager Mark Hughes said he was as pleased with his side's performance against the Magpies and he was when they beat Tottenham 4-0 in the FA Cup last weekend.

"We scored one, could've had a number of others, had good clear chances and could've won more comprehensively," stated the Welshman.

"Probably as pleased with the performance and result tonight as I was at the weekend."

"It was difficult for us in the first half. Newcastle came to stop us playing our normal game. They penned us in and, really, that wasn't the game that we wanted to play.

"Second half, we had to address that and make sure we imposed ourselves."

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