alan pardew

Newcastle United’s descent down the Premier League table this season has been quite alarming.

They have lost all four of their last league and cup games, including the 7-3 demolition at the hands of Arsenal and the embarrassing loss to Championship side Brighton in the FA cup yesterday, and have won only two out of their past nine Premier League fixtures.

This has sent Alan Pardews’ men spiraling down the table into 15th place, just two points above 18th placed Wigan Athletic in the dreaded relegation zone.

And Pardew is suitably alarmed by the prospect of his side suffering a second relegation from the Premier League in three years, following their drop into the Championship back in 2009.

He told the BBC yesterday:

“We need to get our best players back and quickly. We need to sustain ourselves and make sure we’re a Premier League team next season.”

It’s true, the Magpies do have an alarming injury problem. The likes of Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse are all currently out, which has left Newcastle looking pretty stretched and threadbare as they prepare to enter what could be a decisive period of their season which sees them play relegation rivals Reading and Aston Villa this month.

If the Magpies are to avoid hurtling down the trapdoor again, then they must add to the recent capture of Mathieu Debuchy and re-build a team who right now look like sure-fire relegation fodder.

Here are 5 players who could help Newcastle avoid relegation.

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