Alan Shearer urges NUFC to battle on to avoid relegation

May 18 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

ALAN Shearer will refuse to let his Newcastle United players wallow in their misery following the 1-0 defeat by Fulham as he predicted one final dramatic twist in the relegation battle.

United, who were denied a perfectly good equaliser from Mark Viduka by referee Howard Webb, were poor against the Cottagers, undoing so much of the positive work they had achieved with the 3-1 win over Middlesbrough.

A seventh home defeat of the season, coupled with Hull City’s 1-1 draw with Bolton, means the Magpies’ Premier League future is no longer in their own hands. But Shearer is defiant and he expects his players to be the same as he tries to inspire a performance against Aston Villa next weekend, which must garner at least a point if Newcastle are going to have any chance of avoiding the Championship.

“I said all along I thought it would go to the last day and that’s the case. It is not over yet,” said Shearer, who confronted Webb after the final whistle to complain about the decision to penalise Kevin Nolan for a foul on Mark Schwarzer. “Yes, everyone is disappointed, yes heads are down, but we live to fight another day and we will give it a right good go next weekend and see where we go.

“We will come in on Monday morning, try to lift everyone and see where we go from there, but I still think there will be a twist or a turn yet, without a doubt.

“Stakes are massive, stakes are high, but I still believe there is a twist and a turn. It will be a long afternoon next Sunday. Everyone else is in the same position, so we have to do better than Hull, that’s it.”

Hull could not have tougher opponents at the KC Stadium, but Manchester United have already won the Premier League title and they have a Champions League final against Barcelona to worry about just three days later.

However, Shearer has no concerns about the strength of the side Sir Alex Ferguson will send out against the Tigers as he refused to question Manchester United’s desire for that game.