GRAEME Souness has re-assured teenage defender Steven Taylor that he has a future at the heart of Newcastle's back four.

The 19-year-old will continue his rapid rise to prominence when he wins his third cap for England Under-21s in this evening's Pride Park clash with Holland.

But, while Taylor's international career is gathering pace, his opportunities on the domestic stage have been seriously limited in the last fortnight.

The youngster's last first-team outing came in January's ill-fated 1-0 defeat at Arsenal, and he failed to even make the bench for last weekend's 1-1 draw with Charlton.

After making 12 appearances at right-back earlier this season, the return of Stephen Carr has seen Taylor suddenly squeezed out of the picture.

Yet, while Souness was impressed by the way in which the former Monkseaton High School pupil adapted to life on the right touchline, he has always seen him primarily as a centre-half.

And, while the recent arrival of Jean-Alain Boumsong co-incided with Andy O'Brien extending his stay at St James' Park, Souness remains confident that Taylor will get a chance to stake his claim for a centre-back berth.

"The aim for Steven Taylor is to get him a game at centre-half," said the Newcastle boss, who is currently in Dubai as the non-internationals in his squad enjoy a spell of warm weather training.

"I have explained my thinking on that - it is a vital area for us - and I would imagine that you will see him play at centre-half at some time this year.

"If I was a gambling man, which I'm not, I would stake a lot of money on Steven Taylor having the temperament and the ability to play at centre-half for this football club.

"He has shown that he can deal with playing in front of 52,000 people. That doesn't affect him and it doesn't worry him."

After exceeding all of his pre-season hopes, Taylor's new challenge is to force his way back into the starting line-up now that all of United's experienced defenders are fit.

"He is still only a baby," said Souness. "He knows that everyone loves him when he gets into the team.

"The expectation levels on him are enormous, but he deals with the pressure. This is another challenge for him, but I think he has everything going for him."

* Souness arrived in Dubai yesterday morning without nine members of his first-team squad, after Amdy Faye became the latest player to be called up for international duty. Faye has been named in the Senegal squad for tomorrow night's friendly with Cameroon that will take place in Cretiel, France.

The midfielder, who has already won eight caps for his country, is expected to feature when Senegal return to World Cup qualifying duty against Liberia next month.

Faye's call up means he will miss Souness' team-bonding exercise, after joining an absentee list that already includes Jermaine Jenas and Kieron Dyer (England), Taylor and James Milner (England Under-21s), Shay Given, Andy O'Brien and Stephen Carr (Republic of Ireland) and Aaron Hughes (Northern Ireland).

* Patrick Kluivert has expressed his surprise at Newcastle team-mate Lee Bowyer's continued exclusion from the England squad.

Bowyer, who made his one and only full international appearance against Portugal in 2003, will be with the rest of United's non-internationals in Dubai tomorrow while Sven Goran Eriksson's side take on Holland at Villa Park.

Kluivert is also missing out on the game after being overlooked by Holland boss Marco van Basten, but the Dutch striker is amazed to see Bowyer suffering a similar fate.

"I find it hard to understand why he is not a regular in the England squad," said Kluivert. "He deserves another chance to show what he can do.

"Maybe Lee is unlucky that Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham are ahead of him - but he's worth a place in the squad at least."

* John Hartson today denied he is Craig Bellamy's 'minder' but backed him to be a big hit with Celtic.

It has been suggested the experienced striker would be sticking close to his Wales international team-mate and giving him advice following his loan move from Newcastle.

Bellamy was absent as hitmen Hartson and Chris Sutton ruthlessly took out Dunfermline which sent out a warning that the strike partnership will be tough to break up.

The 25-year-old might have to settle for a place out wide on the wing to start with, as he looks set to make his debut at Inverness in the SPL.

''The media thinks I'm some kind of minder but all I said was that if Craig Bellamy came to me and asked about Glasgow and Celtic I'd point him in the right direction,'' said Hartson. ''If the roles were reversed I'd expect the same.

''Craig is his own man, he's not a kid anymore. A lot has been said about him in the last few weeks and all he needs to do is get his head down and concentrate on football.''

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