Source: Daily_Mail
Shearer backs Owen, Martins and Viduka to keep Toon in the top flight
Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins are the key to Newcastle's Barclays Premier League survival, according to manager Alan Shearer.
Newcastle are four points adrift of safety with just five games to go and will need their frontmen to hit some form before the end of the season if the club are going to preserve their top-flight status.
Viduka and Martins have recently returned to fitness and came off the bench during the second half of Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Tottenham.
The pair's introduction dramtically improved Newcastle's performance and offered encouraging signs ahead of the final five games of the season.
And Shearer believes the trio can score the goals that will drag Newcastle out of trouble.
'We are certainly a bigger threat with those three on the pitch so it's something we can work on,' Shearer said. 'If we can keep them fit in the week and get a good week's training, we face Portsmouth and it's a game we need to win.
'They'll all be in contention to start. If all three strikers were available it's an option but we've got to get them all fit to start the game.'
Defender Sebastien Bassong, at fault for the only goal of the game at White Hart Lane, is confident Newcastle have what it takes to surive.
'Newcastle means a lot to me and I don't want the club to go down in my first season,' he told the Newcastle Chronicle.
'They gave me a great opportunity in the Premier League, so it's very, very important for me to help Newcastle stay in the league.
'I think we can still win this fight - we have to. Everyone believes that we can do it.'
