Souness : "I Won't Quit...."

Another manager have his head on the chopping block....

LONDON, Jan 15 (AFP) - Under-fire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness insisted he won't quit despite seeing his side slump to a 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday which left them in 13th place in the Premiership.

To make matters worse, Souness saw his injury list grow even further with Titus Bramble failing a fitness test on an ankle injury while Stephen Carr was substituted at half-time at Craven Cottage because of a stomach complaint.

"I chose to be in this job and things don't always go your way. But I'll keep going. As a manager you have to be optimistic and think things are going to get better," said Souness.

Michael Owen, Scott Parker, Emre, Kieron Dyer, Craig Moore, Shola Ameobi and Steven Taylor are already in the St James' Park treatment room.

But the manager remained philosophical.

"That's life," he said.

The match looked destined for a goalless draw with both sides missing chances but French substitute Steed Malbranque pounced in the 75th minute to snatch victory.

"We scrapped in the first half and found another gear in the second. We feel hard done by. We had Fulham under pressure and enjoyed some good possession," said Souness.

"We committed people forward and had a good shout for a penalty - their defender Ian Pearce admitted to some of my players he'd handled the ball.

"With the players available I felt we gave a good account of ourselves."

Fulham boss Chris Coleman felt his side were worthy winners.

"This was a massive result for us. Both teams are crippled with injuries so we knew this was never going to be easy," he said.