Alan Shearer backed "little devil" Alan Smith to become an England regular last night and insisted: It's good to have a nasty side.

Shearer is a fully paid-up member of the Smith fan club, the membership of which rocketed following the Leeds United striker's superb display for England against Portugal on Saturday.

Two years after Shearer retired from international football, the Newcastle United captain reckons Smith can form a long-term partnership with Michael Owen.

Smith has earned respect for managing to shed the hot-head reputation without losing an edge to his game.

As the 21-year-old prepared to face Newcastle at St James' Park tonight, Shearer said: "I like footballers with a little bit of devil in them. I take that as a positive thing, not a negative thing.

"People go on about Alan Smith's temperament but it's good to have a nasty side. He has attitude, which is also a good thing.

"Defenders don't like playing against him because he's a nuisance. He niggles defenders, runs them into corners and gives as good as he gets.

"Obviously, he's been told to channel his aggression in the right direction, and he's listened and learned: he's gone 15 games without a yellow card now.

"On occasions, he's been harshly treated because of what he's done in the past; people have been looking out for him.

"But he's got a big future. Can he be Michael Owen's regular partner for England? I don't see why not. It's a while since someone made such an impact on their international debut.

"He's got a good first touch, he works very hard and he scores goals.

"I can see similarities with myself when I was young; I wasn't a prolific goalscorer, which he hasn't been up to now. But he can be."

Sir Bobby Robson joined in the praise for Smith after the weekend and held up Shearer as the perfect person for the feisty Leeds forward to try to emulate.

The Newcastle manager said: "There are several very good role models in the country for Smith to look at and Alan Shearer would be number one.

"There's no better one than Alan Shearer to be an example, and that's what he's got to do: just play football and stay out of trouble.

"I like Smith very much. He always was a bit tasty, a bit spiky as well, but he always had the potential.

"He probably knows himself he's been sent off too many times for a young player, but he's a talent."

Meanwhile, Robson has handed Laurent Robert a licence to thrill and backed him to meet the high standards set by fellow Frenchman Robert Pires last season.

Pires was the Football Writers' Player of the Year after a string of electrifying performances for Arsenal, 12 months after he struggled to acclimatise to the Premiership.

Robert scored ten goals and was credited with having set up a further 16 in his debut campaign in England, even though he was frequently criticised for his apparent lack of commitment.

Having shaken off a spinal injury, the winger was the catalyst behind Newcastle's comeback at Anfield last Monday and is in line to start this evening's game.

Robson said: "People often say foreign players need a year to get used to life in this country and the philosophy of the English game.

"But Laurent did well for us last season and I think overall, weighing up the pros and cons, we came out on top.

"I'd put him up there with Robert Pires, Ryan Giggs, Harry Kewell and Damien Duff. We got a lot more out of him than we didn't get.

"Wingers are notoriously bad defenders, and I never saw Stanley Matthews with his tongue hanging out at the back post after he'd headed a cross away for a corner.

"But Laurent knows now that you have to be a team player when you lose the ball in the Premiership; we've worked on the little issues that disturbed us.

"Laurent was fabulous in pre-season and he's looking good again; in training the other day, he had 25 shots and scored with 24 of them.

"He's improving all the time and we have to give him the ball where he can threaten people.

"I don't think he got the credit he deserved last season and he can do things that really excite us."

With Lomano LuaLua "shattered" after returning from international duty with DR Congo on Monday, Craig Bellamy might start against Leeds. However, he is not yet fit enough to complete 90 minutes.

* Newcastle's home clashes with Everton and Tottenham have been rescheduled to accommodate pay-per-view television.

Everton's visit to St James' Park, initially scheduled for Saturday, November 30, will now be played the following day, when it will be screened by Sky Sports.

Sky will also show the game against Spurs on Sunday, December 29, with a 2pm, instead of 3pm, kick-off time.