Newcastle United boss Sam Allardyce admits he must look outside of England to strengthen his defence.

He told the Sunday Sun: "The choice is more limited here (in England). They are fewer and farther between than they were.

"If I had been quick enough or had been in place as Newcastle manager sooner, I'd have looked at more Premiership free transfers.

"I tried for one - Tal Ben Haim - and if Sylvain Distin had still been available when I'd been here, he'd have been here.

"If you put Ben Haim and Distin here now, it would make a huge difference. You'd already have secured the problems with your defence, basically.

"You'd probably just look for a left-back of the right sort of experience and, perhaps, a right-back and you'd be looking forward to August 11.

"But that centre-back we need may not be in this country now."