Queens Park Rangers new manager Mark Hughes needs a striker to save the club from relegation Hughes would not discuss any specific transfer plans, despite claims the club have agreed a £3 million fee with Chelsea for Brazilian centre-back Alex. But he highlighted the need for a striker after Jay Bothroyd wasted several decent openings. "We've got players to come back into the side and we're trying to bring players into the club," said Hughes, who dismissed any suggestion he will sell Joey Barton this month. It's hard in January, but we have targeted players we think can make an impact. We need to improve our goals for column. We had some good opportunities and if we had a bit more guile we might have converted one. Newcastle's win moved them above Liverpool and up into sixth and Alan Pardew is pleased with the way his squad has coped so far with the departure of Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote to the Africa Cup of Nations. "It wasn't a game that was particularly entertaining or enthralling," admitted Newcastle's manager. But we were very professional in what we did. We didn't start well and just did enough to get the win. You've got to remember a lot of the guys who have come into the side are the same ones who did terrific for us last season. Danny Guthrie has won the man of the match and Leon Best got himself a goal. That will give us confidence to go through the rest of the month without Demba and Cheick. We are above Liverpool because we deserve to be. This isn't just about what has happened today, it's about 21 matches. We've got a very important period while those two boys are away and if we can pick up a couple of wins, we're going to get a hell of a boost when they return. Pardew surprisingly defended QPR midfielder Shaun Derry, even though Yohan Cabaye was carried off as a result of his studs-up tackle and was furious a red card was not shown. The Frenchman does not appear to have suffered any lasting damage and Pardew praised referee Chris Foy, even though he also failed to see Ákos Buzsáky's handball in the area. He said: "It's a strong challenge, but Shaun Derry is a player who makes strong challenges. I thought the referee was right on top of it and it was borderline red or yellow. I think he was right to only show him the yellow because he got the ball.