"I enjoyed it, I'm putting a brave face on as I'm very disappointed, but I enjoyed the build up and would have enjoyed it a hell of a lot more if we had a point or three.

"We know had that goal counted we could have given our fans a rousing last five or ten minutes - and don't forget that we will not be playing a team of the quality of Chelsea every week.

"I thought it was in from where I was standing. I've seen it on TV and it looks in. It's a mistake by the linesman.

"We made a mistake and we all know that at this level you get punished for mistakes - and we have been. I'm optimistic - I still am. I'm still confident - and my players are, which is more important - that we can avoid the drop.

"I'm sure there are going to be twists and turns between now and the end of the season. Results-wise it has gone against us today, but we know we are in a fight - and we will give it a fight. We have got to stop conceding silly goals. We all make mistakes - and that's not an excuse.

"We've had a chat in the dressing-room and we know what's got to be done. Knowing and doing are two different things, but we will try - I promise you that.

"I will try to do everything to deflect the thing away from myself - and I think the result might do that today. But that's not a positive. If we could rewind it back, I would like to start again.

"But I'm pleased it's over with. Now we must step up in quality and we will work very hard. I'm sure we can step up in quality. We've got a very tough game next Saturday now at Stoke that we've got to work to.

"We asked Michael (Owen) to do a role that takes a little bit away from his game because of Chelsea’s quality in possession, we might have struggled in midfield without Michael dropping back.

"We sacrificed Michael in little spells and he wasn’t able to get into the areas we’d like him to get into. If we’re going to get out of this we need to get scoring chances for Michael. We’ll be working on that."

When asked if he'd contemplate a playing return:
“Have you seen the speed at which John Terry runs? Have you seen my knees? But, yes, I kick every ball and say a few things too. I apologise about my language. I said a few words to the linesman.

When asked about standing almost on the pitch:
“At times I didn’t even know I was there. Everything just takes over, you’re looking at the game, different positions and how you can alter things.’

“When Bobby (Robson) came in to Newcastle, he made everyone sit down and eat together. It gets the players together as a team. So we are doing that every day.’’

On Lovenkrands:
"He got a very, very nasty knock on his back and he was actually struggling to breathe. They had to put the breathing apparatus on when he got into the dressing room. Thankfully, he went off to hospital and they have now stabilised him and hopefully he will be okay."

Sir Bobby Robson commented:
"Newcastle United have needed a strong leader for months, if not years. The departure of Dennis Wise last week proves to me that, in Alan Shearer, they now have that man.

"But Saturday's performance showed just how strong Shearer will have to be in the coming weeks. This is a team on their knees, fighting for Premier League survival and a million miles from being able to take on sides like Chelsea.

"Thankfully for Newcastle, they have Shearer. He is really the club's only hope now because not only does he have the heart of a lion, he has a much shrewder football brain than many people might realise.

"People talk about his passion and will to win. That is all true but, most importantly of all, he has a deep knowledge of the game and the ability to impart that knowledge to the dressing room."

Guus Hiddink commented:
“Alan is very intelligent, a great personality and with eight games to go he knew he couldn’t win all the games. It’s difficult to beat Chelsea when Chelsea are playing well. But you could see in the second half, when the team were 2-0 down, that normally a team in the relegation zone, against Chelsea, they would drop morale. But Newcastle fought back. He can manage it.

"We are now regretting even more the points we lost at Tottenham. But we’ll keep fighting. The pressure is on us and Liverpool not to drop points.

“We came here in special circumstances because of the coming of Alan Shearer. We had to confront that and it gave Newcastle’s team and fans extra energy. But we handled the situation very professionally.”

Frank Lampard added:
“I didn’t think it was as loud as I thought it would be before the game, but I think we quietened the crowd. It was a bit quieter than I expected, I don’t know why. That was the key,”

"We did everything we could to try to keep the crowd out of the equation and I think we managed that. They did not build up a head of steam and that was always going to be the way to win this game. We didn’t want the crowd to become a factor.