Newcastle boss calls for action after seventh straight loss

LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United manager John Carver has said it is "time for action" after his side suffered a seventh straight defeat on Saturday, going down 3-2 at home to Swansea City, and slipping closer to the relegation zone. Carver, who has now presided over the Magpies worst top-flight run since 1977, saw his men take the lead through Ayoze Perez only to concede in first-half stoppage time when Nelson Oliveira headed in from a corner. From there the Swans never looked back with strikes from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork securing the victory despite a late consolation from Siem de Jong who was returning after a long injury lay-off. "I said before the game talk is cheap. It's time for action and I saw some of it today but I need to see more. That is the starting point," Carver told the BBC. "We shot ourselves in the foot again. I think they gave everything today. "I don't think they can give any more. Sometimes it's not good enough and we all know that but at last they are having a go." The result leaves Newcastle just five points above the relegation places on 35 points. A fourth consecutive win for Leicester City and a draw for Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers suggests other teams at the foot of the table may now be finding form. Carver, however, is happy to concentrate solely on his own team. "We knew three or four weeks ago we were in a bit of a fight and we certainly are now after some of the results today. We don't have to worry about other people, we just have to take care of our own business," he said. Newcastle have four matches left to play -- two away to relegation threatened Leicester and QPR and two at home against West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United, on the last day of the season. Reflecting on the coming fixtures Carver said: "We are coming down to the nitty gritty. We need to shape up and get something from them." (Reporting by Douglas Beattie; Editing by Toby Davis)