While he has an outside chance of some involvement in the Premiership clash with Charlton at The Valley on Sunday, he will be raring to go when Manchester City visit St James' Park on February 24.

Medical staff initially feared Shearer could be out of action for up to three months. But his determination to return and play a major role in United's late push for European qualification has left manager Bobby Robson running out of superlatives.

Top psychologist Cary Cooper believes the former England skipper is a good example of what his profession terms "the hardy personality" and his will to get over the injury has speeded up his recovery.

"There's no question about it, your personality, your psychology when it comes to illness or injury, is fundamental to your recovery," said Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at UMIST.

"We know from quite a lot of research that people who have a very positive attitude will aid the healing process.

"What you have to watch out for is someone who is psychologically so positive that they want to do things before they physiologically should.

"You have to be very careful, but any good physio will tell you when that's the case.

"Alan Shearer is a very robust personality, a very positive guy, very dedicated to what he does and very dedicated to his team.

"I would not be surprised to see that kind of positive attitude reflected in him recovering a lot more quickly from injury.

"You have to be very careful that you are not doing things too early, but I think in his case his attitude probably helped his recovery quite enormously."

The injury problems which have plagued Robson's squad all season saw Shearer play on with the help of a series of steroid injections for several months before surgery became inevitable. But Cooper believes that too is not unusual.

"When you're involved in an active sport like football or rugby or tennis, sports which are fast-moving, and if you're really motivated and energetic, there is a lot of adrenaline flowing through your body," he said.

"When that's the case you sometimes don't experience the pain until you stop.

"It could be dangerous if you persist, but if you're so motivated, your body can block out the pain.

"If you have a very positive attitude towards life, you want to get over various injuries quicker. It's linked partly to your personality and partly to your situation, and I guess Alan Shearer is one of those positive guys."