Dyer close to return
Kieron Dyer is poised to make his first appearance in more than a month for Newcastle at Portsmouth having been sidelined with back and groin injuries.
Manager Graeme Souness will make a late decision on the England midfielder, who has been out of action since limping off in the first half against Manchester United at St James Park on August 28.
Dyer, 26, was included in the squad which flew to the south coast and Souness is hopeful the player will finally be fit enough to return after a succession of injuries.
“Since I have been at the club it has been stop-start for him, there is no time when we have had a good run of games from him,” he said. “But he is a top player and from that point of view I feel sorry for myself because I have not had use of him in so many games.
“It has been frustrating. The injury has not healed as well as we would like but he is in the squad and we will see if he gets a game.
“He is adaptable and can play in a number of positions depending on what system we use.”
Newcastle head for Fratton Park on the back of successive victories over Blackburn and Manchester City but Souness knows his side will have to be on the top of their game to continue that run.
“We know Portsmouth is going to be very hard. They are a team who are difficult to play against and by all accounts they should have got a result at the Reebok last week against Bolton,” he added.
“Fratton Park is not the biggest stadium and their fans really get behind them so no matter what way you look at it, it will be hard.
“They are struggling but we are only ever concerned by what we do and we have a group of players here who, if we do things correctly, can do well against anybody.
“It would be nice to go on a run. It would be great to go into the international break with three wins out of three.”
Newcastle will be without Emre, Nolberto Solano and Albert Luque as they attempt to keep a third successive clean sheet for the first time since January 2002 – they already have three in seven matches compared to just six in the whole of last season.
“We want more of the same from our back four tomorrow. We know that if we can keep Portsmouth out we have the players who can score goals at the other end,” said Souness.
Similarly, right-back Stephen Carr, who will make his 50th appearance for Newcastle, has warned his team-mates not to lapse into a false sense of security induced by their recent revival.
“We’re not getting carried away with two results. It’s a long season,” said the Republic of Ireland international.
“If we can get a run of result its amazing. Look at the six points from the last two games, we’ve gone from second from bottom to the top 10. I don’t know if it’s a measure of a poor league or if it’s just poor at this moment in time.
“Everyone is beating each other and there are some shock results. If we keep the heads down, keep working hard, and get a few more results we can get right up the table.
“Portsmouth are struggling but people were saying that about us two games ago - it can change quickly.”
