Shearer's anger as Martins cries off

Apr 13 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

ALAN Shearer admitted he was "unhappy" and "disappointed" with Obafemi Martins for his late withdrawal from the Newcastle team for the weekend six-pointer with Stoke, but says the Nigerian forward still has a big part to play in the relegation fight.

Newcastle’s caretaker boss will summon the striker to see him today to seek further clarification about the groin injury which led to Martins ruling himself out of the match at 11am on Saturday.

Shearer has vehemently denied suggestions that Martins slept in or was guilty of a serious disciplinary transgression, but he was clearly left frustrated by an injury that forced him into a late reshuffle of his Newcastle side.

United’s caretaker boss said there had been no sign of the injury when Martins trained on Thursday or Friday – or even when the team were given massages at the team hotel on Friday evening.

But he appeared willing to draw a line under the unfortunate incident – and will remind the Nigerian of his importance to United’s relegation fight when the pair meet this morning.

Whether Martins is now guaranteed a first-team spot is another consideration. Shearer showed in his benching of Jonás Gutiérrez and Fabricio Coloccini that he is not selecting a team based on reputation, and Andrew Carroll’s equaliser has strengthened his claims for a start at Spurs next weekend.

Much will depend on how serious the injury is, something that Shearer will seek to ascertain today after being taken by surprise on Saturday morning.

“He rang up on Saturday morning at 11 o’clock and said he’d woken up with a sore groin and was unable to play. We got the doctors and physios to go and have a look at him, and he couldn’t play,” Shearer said.

“After working the last two or three days on a particular system it was disappointing to find out so late in the day that he couldn’t make it. We had to reshuffle the pack a little bit.

“I’m not happy with the situation, to find out so late in the day.

“We have to believe him. I wasn’t too happy that I got the call at 11 o’clock, particularly after we trained all Thursday and Friday and had massages on Friday evening and there was no sign of it.

“But it’s happened and we’re hopeful it’s not going to be too serious because he’s got a big part to play.” Newcastle need all hands on deck with six games remaining and two points to make up to clamber to safety before the end of the season.