Managerless Bristol City face a rampant Newcastle side who dismantled Scunthorpe 3-0 last night.

Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands teamed up once again to fire Newcastle 12 points clear of third-placed Nottingham Forest in the race to the Barclays Premier League.

Carroll struck 10 minutes into either half to take his tally for the season to 14, a figure Lovenkrands had reached earlier with his 22nd-minute effort, as relegation-threatened Scunthorpe wilted in the face of an onslaught at St James' Park.

The game might have been over by half-time but for Iron goalkeeper Joe Murphy, the crossbar and the offside flag which denied Kevin Nolan a headed goal in the 12th minute.

But the Magpies did more than enough to re-establish their four-point advantage over second-placed West Brom and leave themselves needing a maximum of 15 points from their remaining 10 games to clinch promotion.

Newcastle, who had scored 18 goals in their previous four home games, went in front with 10 minutes gone when Carroll met Danny Guthrie's corner with a thumping header to claim his 13th goal of the season.

Nolan had the ball in the net once again two minutes later when he headed home Guthrie's rehearsed free-kick, only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

Murphy was left cruelly exposed once again with 22 minutes gone when Wayne Routledge's defence-splitting pass put Lovenkrands in on goal and the Dane finished superbly to make it 2-0.

The goalkeeper pulled off a stunning point-blank stop to deny Lovenkrands a second five minutes later, and his goal continued to lead a charmed life as Scunthorpe somehow managed to get the to break without conceding again.

Carroll added a third for Newcastle on 55 minutes with a chip over the advancing Murphy following good work from firstly Fabricio Coloccini and then Guthrie.