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Battling Newcastle wrest draw

Sam Allardyce has admitted that Newcastle's battling 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Arsenal has lifted the pressure on him.

Newcastle fought back from a goal down to thwart Arsene Wenger's unbeaten side, who had to be content with stretching their lead over their nearest rivals Manchester United to four points.

Newcastle still have much rebuilding to do after claiming only their second point in six games thanks to Steven Taylor's second-half equalizer.

But manager Allardyce was understandably keen to accentuate the positive and said: "It was a huge result and under the circumstances, it's a weight lifted off us all. I don't want to see a crisis ever again, if that was a crisis okay, but I never called it one. I'm always relieved when I get a result and the players have done all they can for me."

After issuing a public vote of confidence in Allardyce earlier this week, Newcastle's players backed their words with deeds in a bid to quell fears the manager was at loggerheads with his squad over tactics, team selection and his unpopular plans to take them away for a four-day bonding break over Christmas.

"Whispers leak out when things aren't going so well and they get written into massive headlines, it's a fact of life at this club," Allardyce said. "They showed great commitment to get the fans behind them, that was there for all to see. We've got to make sure we build from this now starting with Birmingham on Saturday [tomorrow], make sure things don't turn again."

Newcastle fought back after a stunning early striker from Emmanuel Adebayor put Arsenal in command and Allardyce added: "At the start I'd have settled for a draw but in the end I thought we didn't get what we deserved."

"It's not often you get Arsenal on the back foot for so long, they were hanging on at the end. I love to hear the fans behind us like they were, that's what I took the job for and it's what you want to hear every week," he said.

Arsenal remain unbeaten in the league since April and Wenger was unsurprised by the battle his side faced as they ground out another point in their attempts to wrest the title from United's grasp.

The Frenchman -- who admitted he is unlikely to see his lengthy injury list reduced before the weekend -- said: "I could feel there was a crisis at Newcastle and because of that I'd anticipated it'd be very difficult."

"I don't know about the differences within the club, but it looked like their players made a union to stick together and they fought like mad," he said.

Wenger reiterated his offer to the Football Association to tap into his expertise in their efforts to fill the vacant England manager's job, but revealed he is yet to meet FA chief executive Brian Barwick.

The Frenchman remains keen for an Englishman to replace Steve McClaren.

"I'll leave it to Brian Barwick to inform you of who he sees," he said. "I'm like a doctor, I have a confidentiality clause. I've not met him yet but if he wants to I will give him my opinion. I've said many times that it has to be an Englishman. I'm more nationalistic than many English people who want to give it to Mourinho or Capello. I'm the only one who goes for an Englishman."
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