Newcastle manager Alan Pardew bemoaned the injury to striker Shola Ameobi after his side lost 1-0 at Fulham on Wednesday.
After a busy transfer deadline day that saw key striker Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool for 35 million pounds and fellow forward Xisco depart on loan to Deportivo La Coruna, Pardew is now facing a striker shortage that threatens to derail his side’s Premier League campaign.
And the manager’s disappointment at losing Carroll was compounded when Ameobi left the Craven Cottage pitch after just 10 minutes with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
It left Pardew with the untried pairing of Leon Best and substitute Nile Ranger up front, with both failing to make an impact.
“Shola’s injury has not helped our cause, it’s another blow following the one on Monday,” Pardew said.
“We need to rally together and I thank them (the club’s fans) for their support at Fulham.”
Pardew admitted his side were second best at Fulham, who won thanks to a second-half strike from Damien Duff.
“We did not play well enough tonight. 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,” he said.
“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.”
Fulham boss Mark Hughes was happy with his side’s improving form, with Wednesday’s result coming just days after their 4-0 trouncing of Tottenham in the FA Cup over the weekend.
“We scored one, could’ve had a number of others, had good clear chances and could’ve won more comprehensively,” Hughes said.
“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,” he said.
“Second half, we had to address that and make sure we imposed ourselves.”