ALAN Pardew last night conceded he was “worried” by Newcastle United's position in the bottom half of the table.

The Magpies are still searching for their first away win of the season after goals from Steve Sidwell and Hugo Rodallega condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

Hatem Ben Arfa's deflected second-half strike briefly hauled them level, but they have now lost three Premier League away games in a row and claimed just one victory in all competitions since the end of October.

They remain four points clear of the relegation zone in 14th position, but the gap will close to two if Sunderland beat Reading at the Stadium of Light this evening.

To make matters worse, they face Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal before the end of the year, and Pardew admits a haul of 17 points from 16 matches is a cause for concern.

“I'm worried in so much as we're not picking up enough points,” said the Newcastle boss, who watched Fabricio Coloccini come within inches of claiming a draw as he curled a 71st-minute strike against the crossbar. “That's pretty evident. Although the performances against Stoke, Wigan and now Fulham have been much improved – and certainly our attacking play today had a bit more fluency about it – it's a worry that we haven't got enough points on the board.

“We need to concentrate on the next game, Manchester City at home, and try to pick up some points. We've got a tough run of games coming up, but we've put ourselves under pressure by losing the home games against Swansea and West Ham, they were particularly hurtful for us. We can't turn back the clock though, that's where it is.”

Newcastle paid a heavy price for some desperate defending last night, with Fulham's second goal in particular owing much to the inadequacies of the visitors.

Cheik Tiote, who was ineffectual all evening, conceded a needless free-kick close to the right touchline, and Fabricio Coloccini allowed Rodallega to steal in front of him to head home Damien Duff's free-kick.

“The first 20 minutes caught us out a little bit, but about 20 minutes before the end of the (first) half you sensed we were starting to get to grips with Fulham,” said Pardew. “We started the second half well and had the game by the scruff of the neck really, but the goal was a soft one.

“We gave away a cheap free-kick and then didn't defend that situation at all. So we've come away losing a game we should have got something out of.

“We just didn't defend that situation well enough. We're going to have to be better than that because we can't concede soft goals at this level. To win that game we needed to score three goals at Fulham, and that's very difficult to do. It's very disappointing because I think we've got an honest set of players. We work on those situations, so from our point of view, it's a poor goal.”

Last season, Newcastle kept their individual errors to a minimum, but the current campaign has witnessed a string of mistakes and misjudgements that have contributed to the club's ongoing struggles.

Neither Coloccini nor Mike Williamson is exuding authority at the back, while Tiote and Jonas Gutierrez are pale imitations of the players who were so effective last year.

As a result, the Magpies are struggling, and the fact their last away win came in May merely underlines the extent of their failings.

“You sometimes get runs like that, and we're having one of those years where things aren't really going for us,” said Pardew. “We played a lot worse than that last year and won away from home. But that's where we are and we have to accept that. If we keep working as hard as we did tonight, things will change.”