Kevin Campbell offered no excuses as to why Albion prod uced such an abject performance.

The veteran striker was one of three players hauled off at half-time in a forlorn attempt to salvage a point. A lack of potency and glaring defensive errors were a microcosm of Albion's season and Campbell laid the blame firmly at the door of the players.

"We prepared well but for some reason we just didn't perform and sometimes you just have to hold your hands up," he admitted.

"We let the manager down, we let the club down and it's really gutting. We have been playing well but today every-thing just seemed to go wrong in the first half.

"We gave away two silly goals again. We started with a different system in the first half and everyone knew if it wasn't going right the manager would change it. So, the manager changed it and we looked a lot more solid in the second half, which helped. All is not lost, but it's going to be tough for us now."

However, whilst manager Bryan Robson convinced Newcastle's suspect penalty award had no bearing on the outcome, Campbell took a contrary stance.

Neil Clement's push on Michael Chopra was clearly outside the penalty area yet Shola Ameobi was given the chance to double Newcastle's lead five minutes before half time.

"The player (Chopra) was brought down outside the box," lamented Campbell.

"People say that when you're down there things like that go against you. I'm fed up of hearing that. If it's not a penalty the officials are good enough not to give these things."

The odds on Albion surviving the drop have shortened to 100-1 but Campbell still sees a tiny glimmer of hope.

"Portsmouth have got two tough games now and we have to hope both they and Blues don't get the right results but we do." he said.