Shearer pleased with spirit

19 April 2009 17:03
Alan Shearer felt there were positives to be taken from Newcastle's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham. The result leaves the Magpies inside the Premier League relegation zone with five games of the season remaining. A solitary strike from Darren Bent settled Sunday's contest at White Hart Lane, with the hosts good value for the three points. Newcastle did come close to snatching an equaliser on a number of occasions, but Shearer knows there is a lot of hard work ahead for his side if they are to maintain their top-flight status. "They had the better of the game in the first half, but having said that Steven Harper has not had much to do," Shearer told Sky Sports. "We were disappointed with the way the goal happened, I think it was from our corner. But at 1-0 down there was still everything to play for. "I think in the second half, the spirit was there and we now have to convert that into goals and chances. "There is pressure on us. People have been saying for six weeks that we have to win our home games. Certainly we have to win at home to Portsmouth a week on Monday." Threat Shearer admits his cause is being hindered at present by injuries and players lacking match fitness, but he believes his squad are prepared to battle their way out of trouble. "We put all of our big guns on at the end, because if you're going to get beat you might as well get beat going down fighting," he added. "I thought we were more of a threat in the second half with Mark Viduka on, Oba Martins on and Michael Owen. The problem is getting those guys onto the pitch fitness wise. "The other problem is we haven't got a left-back. We have got one left-back at the football club (Jose Enrique) who is injured at this moment in time. "We changed it for last week's game (against Stoke), and it worked, and I knew this game was going to be tough with the way Spurs play - with two wide men. But we didn't get started in the first half. "Steven Taylor was then feeling an injury so we had to make a change and we put Damien Duff back there, and I thought he did a good job."

Source: SKY_Sports