SIR BOBBY ROBSON last night reacted furiously to claims that Carl Cort had been "the invisible man'' in over three years with Newcastle.

As Cort prepared to join Wolves in a £2m deal, an angry Robson rounded on the 26-year-old striker's critics.

Injury-plagued Cort's eight goals have cost Newcastle more than £1m a piece in his three-and-a-half years at the club.

Robson paid Wimbledon £7m for the former England Under-21 international, who has made £2.5m in wages but started only 24 games.

Cort, whose last appearance was as a substitute 11 months ago away to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, has been labelled "the invisible man'' in certain quarters on Tyneside.

He has also been compared to Spanish defender Marcelino, who was dubbed a malingerer by fans during his own disastrous three-and-a-half-year spell with Newcastle.

But Robson mounted a staunch defence of the signing of Cort, declaring: "I bought Carl Cort and I'll stand up for my judgement on him.

"If he goes, I hope he does really well. He will prove to be a Premiership player and he might kick us in the teeth one day - and I hope he does!

"That boy has gone from one horrendous injury to another. He was never like Marcelino. He never gave me a moment - not a minute, a moment - of problems.

"He's had a hazardous time poor kid. He went from one serious injury to another - he's had genuine injuries. He is not a hyprochondriac. We tried to keep him going and he's soldiered on.

"In the meantime, we've brought Craig Bellamy in and Shola Ameobi has matured, we've got Michael Chopra coming through and we're trying Kieron Dyer up front, and we feel we can afford to let Cort go.

"But he will turn out to be a good buy. Where can you buy a 6ft 4in player to play in the Premiership for the money Wolves are paying? They are getting a very good player, as long as he can get on the pitch and stay there.

"He's short of matchplay by about a month, but once he gets his conditioning right, he will be a very effective player.

"When we bought him, we said: 'What a player we have here.' We were delighted with him. Sadly, the boy has had a terrible time.

"The chairman rang me to say he had accepted what he thought was a goodish offer for Cort. We're just waiting for things to develop.''

Robson, meanwhile, revealed that he was almost tempted to name Bellamy in his squad for tomorrow's FA Cup fourth-round clash with Liverpool at Anfield after the Wales striker "sparkled'' on his return to training.

However, Robson knows he must err on the side of caution with Bellamy, who has been out for over three months after undergoing knee surgery for tendinitis, and has instead pencilled him in for a comeback in the reserves' home game against Everton on Monday.

Robson said: "Craig has trained against the first team, and he sparkled. At first, I really thought he could give us 20 minutes at Anfield if we were pushed for players, but thankfully we're not and I'm not going to do that.

"There's a reserve match on Monday and I think he could play in that. He's a week ahead of schedule and not far away at all from being fully fit.

"Having Craig back will be a huge boost and give us further competition up front. We're delighted to see him back on the training ground.

"His pace was incredible and his movement and desire to play were outstanding - and the training ground was noisy again.''

Midfielder Lee Bowyer is also making progress after a hip injury, and Robson added: "He's a week behind Craig, but they are both almost on the point of returning to competitive training and the squad to be selected.''

Robson revealed he had been forced to field loan enquiries for Hugo Viana after his "sensational" display in the reserves' 6-3 win at Blackburn. He said: "I have had people ringing me about Hugo, but the answer was no."

* Sources in Yorkshire last night claimed Newcastle are making a fresh attempt to prise striker Alan Smith away from crisis-torn Leeds United.

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