NEWCASTLE UNITED'S attacking triumvirate have been hailed as the best in the business by teenage winger James Milner.

Since arriving from Leeds in the summer, the 18-year-old has been able to witness at first hand the striking prowess of Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy and Patrick Kluivert.

At the start of the campaign the three front-men jostling for a place in the Magpies team looked a recipe for disaster - and so it proved with the departure of manager Sir Bobby Robson.

However, under Graeme Souness, the Scotsman has found a way of including all three in his starting line-up, with Bellamy being played on the wing.

Kluivert and Shearer have each hit six goals this season and Bellamy has also found the net on three occasions, and Milner believes Newcastle have one of the most feared strikeforces in the Premiership.

"You look at the forward line and what Alan Shearer and Patrick Kluivert have done is unbelievable. That's before you even think about Craig Bellamy, who's showed what a good job he can do on the wing," said Milner. "The strike power we've got in the team is frightening really and Alan and Patrick proved what they're capable of when they did a fantastic job in Israel (as both men shared five goals between them against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin).

"The quality of the strikers at Newcastle hasn't surprised me at all because I knew what I was coming to. When Patrick came as well, I knew I would be playing with a world-class strike partnership whoever was in the team. Patrick has added so much to the squad and we've got goals flying in all over the place at the moment."

Newcastle are out of action until the trip to Charlton a week on Sunday where they will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to seven games.

Souness has been in charge for five of those, and the 2-2 draw at Birmingham at the weekend was the first time during his reign that they have failed to win.

Eyebrows were raised when Souness took over but his record speaks for itself since taking over. And Milner said: "We've played very different teams in the last few weeks and we've shown that we're able to change our game to accommodate that.

"Southampton and Birmingham were a very different challenge to the Israeli team, and that's before you think about playing the likes of Arsenal.

"It's nice to be flexible and we've got players who want to do well for the team and don't mind where they play. That's a great asset to have and we can swop personnel or the way we play."

Meanwhile, Laurent Robert is willing to play the waiting game before making a decision on his Newcastle future.

The erratic Frenchman has been a substitute in all three Premiership fixtures since Souness took charge on Tyneside. Under Robson's rule, Robert would not have been as patient in voicing his concerns over team selection after being forced into bench duty.

But, with Souness in charge, the winger claims he is willing to bide his time although he does admit he is perplexed why he been overlooked on the left wing - with the manager choosing instead to play Craig Bellamy, James Milner or Jermaine Jenas instead.

Robert said: "Since the change of manager, things have gone a little more differently for me. It's not easy being a substitute.

"Moreover, it's not easy to know why I am substitute, especially as there doesn't seem to be a reason why I should be. For the moment I will accept it and we will see what happens."

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