Allardyce calls for more support

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The Magpies will complete a gruelling run of fixtures on Saturday when they visit Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League for their third match in a week.

He said: "It is a constant battle for the big four, so just listen to what they say and you will know exactly what I am saying. It's not an excuse, it's a fact. It's a reality that we have to live with."

Allardyce's men beat West Ham 3-1 in the league on Sunday before going down 2-0 at Arsenal in the Carling Cup barely 48 hours later, and now face a tough trip to Eastlands on Saturday lunchtime desperate to bounce back.

That all followed a lacklustre defeat at lowly Derby in the wake of the break for international matches which, Allardyce is discovering, is no break for clubs fielding teams full of international players.

He added: "We had 14 players all over the world playing two games, Friday-Tuesday if it was under-21s, or Saturday-Wednesday, and then tripping all the way back over here.

"I used to look at the fixtures when I was at Bolton and used to pray that when we got the big boys, it was either between international fixtures or between Champions League fixtures and I could set out the stall.

"Very few of my players would be away on international duty or we were not playing in Europe and we would have a full squad ready to match them in the physical areas - in fact, be better than them because of their fatigue.

"That often brought us very good results - when you win at Old Trafford twice on the trot, you have got to stand up and listen to what I am saying."