Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, will ask the club's owners to back him in the transfer market during the transfer window to ensure the club consolidate their Premier League status.
The humiliating 3-1 FA Cup third round defeat at League Two side Stevenage highlighted the fragility of the Newcastle squad.
"I am not looking excuses but the fact is we suffered some injuries and had two key players in our top striker Andy Carroll and Shoma Ameobi out injured and we were just short up top. We couldn’t retain the ball," said Pardew.
"We have a crucial game against Sunderland next week and fingers crossed we will have one or both of them back for it.
"But the bigger picture is that we need strengthening in those areas.
"I certainly need to get one maybe two new players in during the window and I will be speaking to the board to hopefully get something done."
Tottenham Hotspur’s Robbie Keane and West Ham United’s young forward Freddie Sears are two players who are on Pardew’s wanted list.
But it wasn’t just Newcastle’s forward line that found wanting – throughout the team they were second best to a Stevenage side who are 73 places below them in English football’s professional league pyramid.
Pardew, though, feels Saturday’s defeat was largely down to a stretched squad that had simply run out of gas after their hectic recent schedule.
"While I think we had three or four players who needed to grasp what the situation was all about at Stevenage and stepped up to meet the challenge a lot were running on empty," said Pardew.
"The team looked tired. It was a shadow of the team that beat Wigan and West Ham in the past week. Our energy levels just couldn’t match theirs.
"Full credit to them though. They hadn’t played in the week and took full advantage of that . They were very strong but also played good football.
"For me it was one of the most disappointing defeats I have suffered as a manager. Throughout my career as a player and coach I have never really been on the end of a big Cup shock so it hurts.
"Although we had some key players missing through injury but I basically played the strongest team I could. We wanted a good run.
"I felt this competition was important for us this season, I tried to impress that on the players but not enough of them grasped it. We just didn’t have the quality or the energy levels to cope with the situation which confronted us."
sports@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
English Premiership semi-finals
Saracens 57
Wasps 33
Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
PRISCILLA
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Sofia%20Coppola%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Cailee%20Spaeny%2C%20Jacob%20Elordi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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More on animal trafficking
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
'Midnights'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Taylor%20Swift%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Republic%20Records%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now