Date: 4/2/2006
Venue: Saint James' Park
KO Time: 1500 GMT
This will be Glenn Roeder's first game in charge.
SHEARER BREAKS MILBURN RECORD
Alan Shearer wrote his name into Newcastle United folklore with his 201st goal for the club to break Jackie Milburn's record.
Fittingly, the former England striker brought up the landmark in front of his adoring fans at St JamesÂ’ Park.
With Newcastle leading 1-0 against Portsmouth, Shearer latched onto a Shola Ameobi backheel in the 64th minute to be one-on-one with goalkeeper Dean Kiely and he calmly slotted the ball past the Pompey keeper right-footed to send the Geordie hordes delirious.
After the match Shearer admitted he wished Graeme Souness had been there to see his record-breaking strike which wrapped up a first Barclays Premiership victory for the Magpies in seven attempts.
That run cost Souness his job on Thursday, but there was an air of optimism around St JamesÂ’ Park ahead of kick-off and Shearer was in no mood to miss out.
“The goal was a big, big goal for me, obviously, but you have to believe me, the biggest relief was that it helped us get the three points,” he said.
“I couldn’t have wished for it to come at a better place and at a better time. We needed it and we needed it in a performance form everyone , and we got that.
“I wish Graeme was here to see it because whatever anyone thinks of him, he’s an honest, decent, hard-working, genuine man.
“It didn’t work out for him. He knows - you don’t have to tell him, he’s a big boy - that we are in a results-driven business and we didn’t get the results because of an horrendous injury situation.
“But you saw here - we took Emre off, Scott Parker off, Nolberto Solano off and put Kieron Dyer on, Lee Bowyer on and Lee Clark. Graeme didn’t really have that luxury for a lot of the time.
“But he would have wanted us to win because he’s that type of bloke. He’s not bitter, he’s honest.
“We went out and put in a performance that has been coming, and we needed to do it under pressurised circumstances.”