Newcastle boss Bobby Robson yesterday received the news he was desperate to hear when striker Carl Cort was given the go ahead to resume full training.

The 23-year-old visited his specialist yesterday and was told that he can put his injured hamstring to the test in training with a view to returning to the squad for the derby clash with Middlesbrough at St James' Park on March 17.

Cort's emergence from his personal injury nightmare could hardly have come at a better time for Newcastle, who have laboured through much of the season with a crippling casualty list.

The £7m summer signing from Wimbledon has not played since the 1-1 Worthington Cup draw at Leyton Orient on September 26 after aggravating a hamstring problem.

Cort's injury initially surfaced just two games into his United career when, after scoring in a 3-2 victory over Derby County at St James' Park on August 23, he limped off the field and was out for four games.

Newcastle's medical staff nursed him back to fitness and he returned in the first leg of the Orient tie, in which he scored his second - and to date last - goal for the club.

He broke down at Brisbane Road just three games later and it was then that the full extent of the problem became clear.

Cort's specialist diagnosed a problem with the hamstring which could only be solved by an operation and the procedure was carried out quickly in a bid to get him back into the picture as soon as possible.

But the England Under-21 international has been plagued by a series of setbacks, the latest coming just a fortnight ago.

Robson has watched Cort closely in training over the past few weeks and, but for the specialist's caution, was ready to select him for last week's Premiership trip to Everton.

With eight days to go before relegation-threatened Boro make the short trip to St James', he has every chance of making himself available for a game United need to win to keep alive their faint hopes of European qualification.

Cort's return will go some way to offsetting the loss of mercurial midfielder Kieron Dyer.

The 22-year-old will have a second operation next weekend which is intended to clear up his shin problem.

Although Dyer will be a huge loss, Robson will be keen to see his most expensive signing show the Tyneside faithful just why he invested such a large proportion of his summer transfer budget in him.

With skipper Alan Shearer now approaching full fitness after his own nine-week lay-off, Newcastle should present more of a threat in attack, although Dyer and youngster Shola Ameobi have done well as replacements.

A failure to keep clean sheets has cost the Magpies dearly in recent games.

While their defensive problems are yet to be resolved, they should soon be a more potent force going forward.