TOTTENHAM defender Stephen Carr will be hoping a long-standing knee injury doesn't scupper his £1.5m move to Newcastle.

The Republic of Ireland skipper will be on Tyneside within the next 24 hours to finalise personal details and complete a medical before he signs on the dotted line.

But Carr, who missed the whole of the 2001/02 season after suffering cruciate ligament damage, will have his old injury put under the sternest of examinations by the St James' Park medical team.

Carr saw his dream of appearing in the World Cup in 2002 ended by knee problems, but has since fought back and is approaching somewhere near his best form.

And the 27-year-old, linked with a move to Tyneside for the past two years, will put his fitness on the line in a bid to finally make his move to the Magpies.

The Tottenham captain's contract with the north London club has a year left to run and the club have decided to cash in the right back now rather than risk losing him for nothing.

A number of potential defenders were earmarked for the right back berth including Danny Mills, Moroccan Hatem Trabelsi and Portugal's Miguel, but Sir Bobby Robson has never hidden his admiration for Spurs' marauding defender and looks to have finally landed his man.

If all goes to plan the player, who will be Newcastle's fourth signing of the summer, will be unveiled at St James' Park later this week.

Carr, who scored once in 39 appearances for Spurs last term, will be in line to make his debut in the Tees-Tyne derby on Saturday, with Aaron Hughes likely to make way.

Hughes, however, has been assured by Robson he remains part of his long-term plans, with the former centre-back likely to be again competing with Titus Bramble and Andy O'Brien as the first-choice partner for Jonathan Woodgate.

But the news from St James Park wasn't all positive yesterday, with French winger Laurent Robert the latest victim of the viral conjunctivitis that has hit Robson's squad.

Robert, who was yesterday named in a provisional French squad along with teammate Olivier Bernard for the game against Bosnia on August 18, joins Lee Bowyer, O'Brien, and goalkeepers Shay Given and Andy O'Brien on the sidelines.

Newcastle are monitoring the continuing problems with the eye infection, but at the moment are unlikely to ask the Premier League to postpone Saturday's game at the Riverside.

Meanwhile, skipper Alan Shearer has played down talk of dressing room splits at the club.

Shearer, who was again linked with a move to Celtic over the weekend, said: "There has been no fighting, no bust-ups and the club is in good shape.

"It's right and proper that, as captain, I come out and say these things after what has been written and said.

"I can tell the fans every single Newcastle player is pulling in the same direction and we are completely focused.

"We all want success and silverware for Newcastle this season. Not for Alan Shearer. Not for the manager. Not for the chairman.

"But we want success for the fans and the football club as a whole."

* Along with Robert and Bernard's call ups, Newcastle have also seen Craig Bellamy selected for Wales clash in Latvia and Patrick Kluivert picked in Marco van Basten's first Dutch squad for their game in Sweden next week.

* Birmingham striker Emile Heskey could make his debut in the Barclays Premiership at Portsmouth on Saturday after a scan on his knee showed no serious damage.

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