“It’s important that Oba and Mark have got some minutes under their belts.

“We’re certainly a bigger threat with those two on the pitch than without them. That’s clear for everyone to see. It’s

something we can work on. They didn’t suffer any problems during the game, so if we can keep them fit during the week and get a good week’s training into them, we should be in better shape.

“Everyone will be in contention to start next weekend.”

Shearer, who felt aggrieved by referee Mark Halsey’s decision not to award a penalty following a rash tackle by former United defender Jonathan Woodgate on Martins, also explained his decision to start with a strange formation. He added: “It was a 3-4-1-2. We tried to get Jonas (Gutierrez) in behind Michael Owen and Andy Carroll.

“I felt I had to play that way because we have one left-back at the club and he’s injured. That’s why we started with that.

“I felt it worked at Stoke and I was hoping to carry that on in this game.”

Despite condemning Newcastle to their 15th defeat of the season, there were also some words of encouragement from Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who is tipping Shearer to keep them up.

He said: “They’ve still got a big chance of staying up. They’ve got three winnable home games and they will be all-important.

“They’re not in a very good position, but I still think they’ve got every chance of getting out of it.

“Let’s be honest, Hull can’t win a game. St James’s Park can be an intimidating place, and they have to use that to their advantage in their final three home games.

“They have three games now where they’re going to have to lift the roof off the place.

“If they do that, they can win all three games.”