It's now or never for Newcastle United

May 11 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

While neither Viduka, Owen nor Martins scored in that game, United did create more chances and Shearer believes the experiment did work. That means a return for Owen, who has emerged as a a target for both Celtic and Everton, as the striker looks to end a goal drought lasting ten matches.

The three will play in front of a midfield that is set to include Danny Guthrie, who replaces the injured Alan Smith, and Steven Taylor, who will oust Fabricio Coloccini from the side.

“There’s a few things we can do but I’ve got a team in my head that I think will get us three points,” Shearer said.

“You could say that we didn’t score but you also look and think we created three good chances for each one of them so on another night you’d expect one of those chances to go in. So from that point of view I felt it worked.

“When you go in with that particular system what you lack is width. You need your full-backs to provide that width. Now whether we go in with that on Monday I couldn’t tell you that, but that’s what you do lack with three up front is a little bit of width and that’s the balance I’ve got to get right.”

Shearer believes Viduka’s contribution will be crucial against his former club.

The striker is assured a frosty reception from the sold out away allocation, but Shearer sees him as someone who is capable of making a decisive intervention in tonight’s ‘do or die’ contest.

“Mark is a very important player for us. I know we haven’t got time and it sounds silly, the more games he gets the better he will be,” he said.

“We’re hoping the games he has played will stand him in good stead and we’ll see a sharper and fitter Mark Viduka.”