SIR Bobby Robson was given the perfect pick-me-up at St. James' Park on Saturday - three points.

Newcastle United boss Robson had to watch the entire 2-1victory over Charlton Athletic from the stands, as he recovers from a fall at his home on Thursday which left him with a bad back and bruised ribs.

But the 69-year-old, still in pain after the match, was given a nice boost when he realised rapidly rising Newcastle have the title contenders back in their sights.

The hard-earned win over Charlton lifted the Magpies to within three points of a Champions' League place with a game in hand. And that is sweet music to the ears of all Newcastle fans who witnessed the disappointing start to the campaign, which saw them hit bottom spot early on.

What will please the Geordie faithful the most, though, is the way in which they have picked themselves up from their depressing slump.

Only Blackburn Rovers have claimed victory over Newcastle in the Premiership since their impressive derby day success over Sunderland in September and Saturday was their third top-flight win at home on the bounce.

Couple that with a rejuvenated European adventure following last Wednesday's memorable 1-0 win over Italian giants Juventus and it is easy to see why spirits are high again around St. James' Park.

What made the weekend's result more pleasing for boss Robson was that the points were assured without four attacking players - Kieron Dyer, Craig Bellamy, Carl Cort and Lomana LuaLua. But gangly forward Shola Ameobi and creative midfielder Jermaine Jenas came in and held their own with two encouraging displays.

And Robson said: "Shola's performance was very important for us. You have got to remember that he is still just a kid.

"I had no worries about putting him in there with Alan Shearer. I knew he would do us a job, he normally does.

"We had four strikers out on Saturday, four. That's going to be a miss for any team. But I thought we did well and caused them problems."

Robson needs performances from Ameobi and Co if Newcastle are going to come out of the Bellamy injury period unscathed. The talented Welshman flies out to the United States this morning to see knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman.

It is feared he could face another lengthy spell on the sidelines and if that is the case then Robson's other striking options have to be ready to perform.

DR Congo striker LuaLua missed out on Saturday as well with a knee injury and that allowed Ameobi to stake his claim, with promising teenager Michael Chopra named on the bench for the first time in his career.

Chopra never entered the field of play, but Ameobi did and he could have scored on his first start since the Leeds United clash and only his second of the season. However, impressive Charlton 'keeper Dean Kiely made a superb save to deny the 21-year-old only his fourth Premiership goal in the second period after the front-man jinked his way past four players.

Ameobi and Shearer did make life difficult for Charlton's defence, but victory was assured from other sources - most notably Laurent Robert.

The signs were there early on that the left-winger was going to have a productive day, as he was at the centre of nearly all of Newcastle's attacking play.

The Frenchman had a long-range shot tipped over; an effort wide; and he fashioned openings for both Jenas and Speed, who both should have put Newcastle in front.

Instead, it was Charlton who took the lead after half an hour when Andy O'Brien failed to clear a John Robinson centre.

O'Brien's header fell in between Titus Bramble and Shaun Bartlett and it was the latter who reacted first to go in on goal and fire past Shay Given.

Charlton, who had their shorts stolen before the match, were robbed of the lead seven minutes after taking it, when Andy Griffin continued his rise to hero status on Tyneside.

Shearer rolled the ball to the on-rushing Griffin, who from 18 yards struck a sweet right-foot shot that powered into Kiely's top corner. If there was a doubt over whether it was Griffin's goal against Juventus, there was no doubt about this one.

Newcastle were on top for the majority of the second half and Kiely had to be alert to save a low Robert drive nine minutes after the restart. But five minutes later the Irish goalkeeper could do nothing about the £10m man's left-foot bullet that flew in after some neat link-up play between Solano, Shearer and Ameobi.

Charlton had their chances to equalise, but Newcastle and 'keeper Given stood firm and now they will be hoping for a similar result against Kiev tomorrow night.

Result: Newcastle United 2 Charlton 1.

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