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Pardew gives Newcastle squad a 'kick up the bum'

Alan Pardew insists Newcastle haven't been good enough © Getty Images

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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has given his players "a kick up the bum" and warned their futures are on the line in the final 17 games of this Premier League season.

Pardew has conceded he made a big mistake by failing to add to his squad after last season's superb fifth-place finish, and admitted he is lacking the resources to stave off a relegation battle this season.

Vowing to bolster his squad in the January transfer window, Pardew admits the moment has come for his players to show they are worthy of wearing the Newcastle shirt as they prepare for a crucial game against Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.

"We need players and that has been obvious during this run we have been on," he said. "The injury list we have had has been a problem, but even without that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to rest players when they needed to. Therefore, we accept that we didn't do enough in the summer and we need to do it now.

"It's been so frustrating. The trust we built up with out fans last season has started to erode away and we need to repair that over the second half of the season. We need to show that desire on the pitch to satisfy our fans and that has to start at Norwich."

Pardew went on to question the commitment of some of the young players coming through the ranks at Newcastle, as they have failed to make the most of their chances at a time when the first team has been decimated by a glut of injury problems.

"My mentality towards it is to make sure everybody is doing their jobs 100 per cent, keeping on top of my stuff, trying to lift my players and kick a couple of them up the bum in terms of the responsibility they have here," he said.

"That is particularly true with one or two of the younger players, whose work ethic needs to improve. Those younger players have not produced what I wanted from them, so they're going to have to work harder or they are going to have to leave this football club."

Pardew has been boosted by the return to fitness of key midfielder Yohan Cabaye ahead of the trip to Norwich, but defender Steven Taylor is still a couple of weeks away from a possible first team return.

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