INURY-ravaged Newcastle have been dealt a major blow with the news that midfielder Kieron Dyer needs surgery.

The 22-year-old underwent a scan on his long-standing shin injury after being forced to withdraw from Sven-Goran Eriksson's England squad for Wednesday night's friendly against Spain.

That examination showed that the cyst which is at the root of the problem is still very much in evidence and the medical opinion was that it should be removed.

The operation will sideline Dyer for at least several weeks, and could put the end to his Premiership season, and the enforced break seems certain to rule him out of contention for his country's vital World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Albania on March 24 and 28.

''This is very disappointing for Kieron and Newcastle United,'' admitted Robson. ''That said, we can now remedy the situation for him, which is the most important thing.

''We are extremely sad that we are losing his services at such a crucial time for the club, but hopefully the operation will enable us to have Kieron back fully fit as soon as possible."

The news is the latest slice of misfortune to hit the St James' Park club this season, and it comes just days after striker Alan Shearer returned from his own bout of surgery on a knee injury after nine weeks on the sidelines.

Fellow frontman Carl Cort has played just five games since his £7million move from Wimbledon during the summer after damaging a hamstring and Greek defender Nikos Dabizas has been out since the first week of the season with a knee ligament problem.

Dyer was thrown into an auxiliary striking role in Shearer's absence and performed admirably, but Robson was looking forward to having him back to doing what he does best, running at defenders from deep positions and linking with the men in front of him.

His lay-off could hardly have come at a worse time. They have lost each of their last three Premiership games, and with Robson looking for a barnstorming run to propel them into the top six, they instead have slid alarmingly down the table in recent weeks.

Saturday's trip to Goodison Park could prove problematical with former Toffee Gary Speed sidelined by a calf injury, Clarence Acuna struggling with an Achilles problem, Warren Barton suspended and Rob Lee just getting over a virus.

l Robson has thrown down the gauntlet to teenage goal star Shola Ameobi and told him: "You can be the new Duncan Ferguson."

Everton fans will see what Robson means when Ameobi and Alan Shearer line up at Goodison tomorrow.

The 19-year-old youngster has made an astonishing climb to prominence - capped by an impressive display as substitute on his England Under 21 debut earlier this week.