Allardyce: we’re at lowest ebb

NEWCASTLE manager Sam Allardyce admits he faces a fight to lift dressing-room morale after it plummeted to the lowest point of his troubled reign.

The 53-year could only look on in despair on Wednesday night as Manchester City nudged him closer to breaking point with a 2-0 Barclays Premier League victory at St James’ Park.

Allardyce’s misfiring side, which mustered just a solitary point from a possible 12 over Christmas, is currently marooned in mid-table and is only being spared further discomfort by the inability of the chasing pack to close the gap significantly.