Newcastle in trouble after 0-0 draw

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United were left deep in relegation trouble after being held to a goalless draw at home to Portsmouth in a tense Premier League match Monday.

With four matches left to play, Newcastle remain in the drop zone with 31 points, although the draw was enough to move them ahead of Middlesbrough on goal difference and up to 18th place.

The two north east rivals have 31 points from 34 games, three behind Hull City in the safety of 17th place. West Bromwich Albion are bottom with 28 points.

Interim boss Alan Shearer has now seen Newcastle draw two and lose two of his four matches in charge and many of the home fans left at the final whistle booed their team off the field.

"I am very disappointed not to have won the game," Shearer told Setanta Sports afterwards.

"We had (Mark) Viduka (Obafemi) Martins and (Michael) Owen on and they all missed chances. But we are not out of it yet and this might prove to be a very important point for us."

It was Portsmouth who came closest to scoring when Richard Hughes headed against the woodwork in the closing minutes.

Owen, now without a goal in nine matches, had Newcastle's best chance after 63 minutes but saw his shot saved by the legs of his former England team mate David James.