Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew understands Shola Ameobi's criticism last week.

The veteran striker took aim at the board over their lack of investment in the squad.

He said: "Shola is an experienced player at this football club. We all know he is somebody who has a good knowledge of the game and a good knowledge of this football club.

"He knows there's an improvement we just need to make since we lost Yohan in the last window. We definitely need to go back to that level at least next year, and I think we can."