Source: Eurosport
Martins A Key Man For Shearer
Newcastle boss Alan Shearer is hoping Obafemi Martins' unpredictability could be a lethal weapon during the closing weeks of a difficult season.
Shearer will embark upon a seven-game run-in with a tough trip to battling Stoke this evening confident his strikers can fire the club to Barclays Premier League safety.
Much of the spotlight since the former Magpies skipper's return to the club has been on his one-time team-mate for club and country, Michael Owen.
However, the 38-year-old knows Nigeria international Martins could play an equally significant role.
Shearer said: "He is a very different player to what Michael brings.
"But what the opposition fear with Oba is they are not sure what he is going to do because at times, he probably doesn't know himself.
"You can take that as a negative or a positive, but he is a threat.
"He is good in the air, he can score great goals and we are going to need that every bit as much from him as we are Michael, as we are Shola, as we are Andy Carroll.
"We are going to need all those players firing on all cylinders."
Newcastle have won just one of their last 13 league games and have slipped to 18th place, three points adrift of derby rivals Sunderland immediately above them.
Perhaps more worryingly, they have scored only 12 goals during that period and registered more than once in a match on just two occasions.
That is a failing which will have to be remedied quickly if they are to drag themselves out of trouble.
Shearer is confident that in Owen, Martins, Mark Viduka, once he returns to full fitness, Shola Ameobi, Andy Carroll and Nile Ranger, who celebrates his 18th birthday tomorrow having been added to the squad, he has the men to address that situation.
However, he knows that will count for little if the supply lines are not opened up once again.
He said: "We are going to have to start creating some chances because otherwise, there is no point in having Michael, no point in having Oba or the two big lads in Shola and Andy - and hopefully, Mark Viduka - and the young lad, Nile Ranger.
"We have got to start giving them a bit of ammo."
Injuries will limit Shearer's options at the Britannia Stadium, especially at the back, where Steven Taylor and Jose Enrique have been ruled out with ankle and knee injuries respectively, although Sebastien Bassong could return from a groin problem.
However, on a night when they will need all the resilience they can muster, the Magpies will not have a single specialist left-back at their disposal.
