While he's a hard man to emulate, Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse told Neil Cameron he wants to follow the same path as Alan Shearer.

HOW many times over his 10 goal-filled years at St James’ Park did the Newcastle United supporters consider themselves less than worthy just to be in the sheer presence of Alan Shearer?

At least on 206 occasions, as that’s the number of goals the record scorer managed in a black-and-white shirt. But it was probably every time they saw him on a football pitch.

So what would Papiss Cissé give to be considered worthy of being mentioned even in the same breath as probably the best No 9 the Toon Army have ever seen?

“He scores goals when he wants,” sang the fans on Monday afternoon after their new hero got his 10th in nine games in the 2-0 win against Bolton.

This strike may not have been as spectacular as some, but it sealed a victory that took his side to joint-fourth, if you will, alongside Tottenham and just two points adrift of thirdArsenal in third place.

Cissé is the man of the moment, but knows it will be all but impossible for him to be thought of with the same devotion afforded to his iconic predecessor. Although that doesn’t mean he can’t look up to the former England captain and at the very least try to emulate him in some small way.

Cissé said: “The No 9 is a big thing here; a monu-mental thing. Alan Shearer set the bar very high and I have to just follow his play, follow the path he set and try to be worthy of him.

“Shearer made the No 9 shirt great. I am not saying that I will be as good as him, but I want to be worthy of his example. To do that, I need to score a lot of goals and play well for Newcastle.”