Alan Shearer refuses to risk Joey Barton in Portsmouth match

Apr 24 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

JOEY Barton’s much-anticipated comeback is likely to be delayed after Newcastle manager Alan Shearer revealed the club are reluctant to take any risks with his return from a broken metatarsal.

Barton is desperate to play some part in the game against Portsmouth, but he has not trained all week and Shearer knows the midfielder will be well short of match fitness having played just eight games this season.

With that in mind, Barton is likely to be told he will have to wait until the trip to Liverpool the following weekend before he can play any part in United’s safety mission.

The 26-year-old began the season in jail after he pleaded guilty to two separate assault charges last summer and has suffered two serious injuries, one to his knee before Christmas and the latest a broken bone in his foot, to severely limit his impact in his second year at St James’s Park.

"He could do a big job for us if he was fit," said a frustrated Shearer, who had hoped to be able to call on the former Manchester City’s combative qualities on Monday night.

"We’re trying everything to get him fit because the more bodies we have, the more it will help us. Whether he’ll make Monday, we’ll have to see. If he does, he certainly won’t be match fit."

Barton looked as though he would be forced out of the club last summer because of his legal problems, but Kevin Keegan refused to give up on him.

That brought an emotional response from Barton, who insisted he was determined to repay the faith United had shown in him and Shearer insisted he has not had a single second’s problem since he returned to the club as manager earlier this month.

He said: "I’ve had no problems with him whatsoever. Whatever we’ve asked of him, he’s done fine. We’ve had no problems at all, but then I didn’t really expect there to be any either.

"He’s desperate to play football, that’s what he wants. He’s fed up of being injured, he wants to go out and he wants to play. But there’s no point pushing him to the extreme.

"We don’t want to be pushing him so much that we cause a setback. We want him fit, but when he is handed over to us for full training, we want him to be right." Shearer, though, will hope Obafemi

Martins and Mark Viduka will both make themselves available for Monday night after neither suffered any fresh setbacks following their half-an-hour run out in the 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

And there was even a hint from the United boss that one, or both, could even be asked to start against Portsmouth because of the difference they made to the team in the second-half against Spurs.

He said: "Oba has done well in training. They had a day off (on Wednesday), but they were back in yesterday.

"At this moment in time, both Oba and Mark Viduka are fit. But it’s a case of monitoring them every day they come in to be honest.

"I was delighted with Mark’s contribution at the weekend, I thought he played very well when he came on. He’s a threat. He can hold the ball up, and can probably do something that no one else in our team can do at this moment in time. We’re hopeful that he might be fit for Monday again."