Steve Bruce refers questions on his Newcastle United future to Mike Ashley and the club's hierarchy after vowing to fight on

Bruce’s 17th-placed side were convincingly beaten 3-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion last night – and the club remains just two points above the Premier League’s relegation zone.

The club has won just two out of its last 20 games in all competitions – and the position of United's head coach looks to be untenable.

Asked what the defeat meant for his position at the club, Bruce said: “Well, as I’ve always said, that’s for other people to answer, but the one thing that I won’t ever do is give up on anything, as we’ve had a bad defeat.

"We’ve been OK, I believe, we haven’t been sensational over the last few weeks, but we have to accept, I have to accept, the criticism that’s going to come our way and the fallout from it, because we were simply nowhere near good enough on a big occasion. We simply haven’t done enough.

"Of course, the buck stops with me. It always does, and I have no problem (with that), because of the way we played, I fully understand the frustration and disappointment of everybody, and rightly so.”

Asked if he believed staying in charge would be best for the club, Bruce went on: “Well, I believe that.

"I’ve been around the block a long, long time. That experience, I’m trying to draw on it. I’m not the type to to just walk away from a bad defeat. You’re going to have to ask others.”

Newcastle had just one shot on target against Brighton, who had won just one home Premier League all season ahead of the fixture.

Reflecting on the loss, Bruce said: “Disappointed, frustrated. Angry too I suppose. It was a very difficult evening for us.

"All week we worked tirelessly on how we were going to play, and we simply didn’t do enough with or without the ball in a big game. We have to admit that Brighton were far better than us in every department.”

Bruce, under contract until next summer, is the 11/8 favourite with bookmakers to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post.

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