Shearer v Southgate - Pre-Match Interviews

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate and Newcastle assistant manager Iain Dowie, have all given pre-match interviews ahead of tomorrow night's crucial Premier League game, with all three agreeing that the stakes are high.

Shearer said of the club's current situation;

"I am as surprised as anyone at the situation we are in.

But we are in it, so we have got to face it head on and we have got to get out of it, and that's what we are trying to do.

I believe we have still got enough time. I still believe we have got enough in the dressing room to get us out of this and I have got confidence in my squad."

Southgate said;

"As we sit here today, one win can take you out of the bottom three, which is remarkable given the run we have had.

We are lucky that we still have a chance of getting out of it, and we have got to take advantage of that.

We are probably closer to survival than we were eight weeks ago because the tally needed to stay up seems to reduce every week."

On recalling Shearer during their playing days he said;

''He's got a good sense of humour and I got on well with him so I don't want to start blowing his trumpet too much."

Then added;

"It's inevitable that people will question Alan, but you can't judge someone on seven or eight games. It won't be the players he wants long-term and it won't be the club running as he wants it yet. He will have his own ideas about what he wants to do.

Alan will want the job based on his ability, not just to be a figurehead for Newcastle. I'm sure he has very strong opinions about what he'd want to bring into the club and the types of players and everything. He would want to control that in a way he thinks would breed success."

Newcastle's Assistant manager Iain Dowie also had his say ahead of tomorrows game, he said;

"Things have been a bit tougher than maybe we anticipated. It is a bigger job than we thought - but then this is a much bigger club that I expected.

But it's not an impossible job. Me and Alan are both positive people and have to remain positive. The players are looking to Alan for leadership and he's been a leader.

I always think its best not to talk about what went on before. But we have had to implement a lot of things in the short time that we've been here.

The way we want to run the club - getting that right is important. Albeit we're only in initially for a brief time - getting those things right is important.

They might look like long-term measures to correct certain things but they will benefit us in the short-term.

I can't wait to see the reaction of the players when we start working on the formation and the line-up today.

That's where we get a sense of the urgency and the desire to turn things around in this game and I'm looking forward to seeing it in the players.

You can dress it up any other way and talk about not putting any unnecessary pressure on the lads but the players that Alan picks will have to cope with it.

It will be a wonderful occasion to play in. The stakes of the match are absolutely huge but on the flipside it should be a wonderful spectacle - and everyone has to rise to the occasion."

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