ALAN SHEARER claims Newcastle United are already feeling the effect of having Graeme Souness in charge - even though the manager has been unable to make major changes to the squad.

The Magpies extended their unbeaten run under Souness to seven games, with a 1-1 draw at Charlton on Sunday, and that has been achieved with the same players Sir Bobby Robson had under his wing.

Only Norwegian Ronny Johnsen, still lacking match fitness, has arrived since the Scotsman took over but Shearer insists the team have already had to adjust to the former Blackburn boss' demands on the pitch.

One major change Souness has made is to axe Frenchman Laurent Robert from the left wing, while he has also shown he is not afraid to play Craig Bellamy, Patrick Kluivert and Shearer in the same side.

And the Newcastle captain said: "This is definitely Graeme's side.

"He came in and straight away he tinkered with the way we played, especially away from home and we're seeing the benefits of that at the moment.

"He has made the midfield more solid so that we're harder to breakdown when we lose possession away from home and you can tell that in the games we've played.

"I'd say all of our away games have been ones we could have lost and perhaps might have in the past.

"You can look at the Charlton result both ways. At half time, when we're one nil and up and controlling the game, it is a match we should have won and it's two points lost.

"But for me it was a classic game of English football. In the second half it could have gone either way, they cleared the ball off the line and we cleared the ball off the line. Both sides had chances to win it so I think a draw is probably a fair result.

"It was a difficult game. In the past we might have folded at the end.

"We've been to Southampton, Birmingham and Charlton since the new manager came in and we remain unbeaten.

"That's an achievement because all three of those are extremely tough places to go and try and get a result.

"None of the games have been easy, but we've given a good account of ourselves in all of them and that is something we can be pleased with."

Newcastle set off to Greece today in preparation for their first UEFA Cup group stage match with Panionios and Souness' men are looking to make the perfect start to the second phase.

The trip to Athens is followed by Kevin Keegan's Manchester City arriving at St James' Park on Sunday when the Magpies will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to nine games.

That stretch of good form has improved Newcastle's standing in the Premiership but it is a far cry from champions Arsenal's incredible record-breaking league run of 49 games.

And Shearer - left with four stitches in a head wound sustained at The Valley - believes the only way the Tynesiders can close the seven point gap on the top two is to follow the Gunners' lead and become more ruthless on their travels.

"What we've got to do is turn this seven game unbeaten run into a 15 or 16 game unbeaten run. We've got the players to do it and we've got to keep it going," he said.

"Arsenal are in a league of their own at the moment and I don't think anybody will ever go on a run like they're on again, but we've got to get our run into double figures.

"If we can do that then we're going to be in a strong position in the league. Unbeaten runs are fantastic because they breed confidence."

And, ahead of the clash with Panionios, Shearer insists Newcastle must repeat their heroics in Israel in the first round of the UEFA Cup - when they beat Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin 5-1 in the second leg - to start their group stage push in style.

"We know absolutely nothing about Panionios, but our scouts will have watched their play so they'll be able to tell us something," said Shearer.

"Like our last game against Sakhnin, it's a step into the unknown for us really, but the UEFA Cup is like that.

"We did a professional job out in Israel and we have to approach it in exactly the same way.

"We will start the game as favourites, but it's about concentrating on what we're doing and making sure we don't make any silly mistakes."

Patrick Kluivert misses the trip to Greece after an operation to have two wisdom teeth removed.

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