AN INCREDULOUS Glenn Roeder has banned Craig Moore from attending an Australian training camp next week and told the injury-plagued defender to prove his worth to Newcastle before he even begins to think about furthering his World Cup dream.

Moore has been like the 'Invisible Man' since joining the Magpies from German side Borussia Moenchengladbach last summer.

A long-standing hamstring problem has prevented the 30-year-old from making a single senior appearance on Tyneside, with his only involvement coming in a pre-season friendly with Yeading and a Northumberland Senior Cup win over Ashington.

Needless to say, though, the recurring injury has not prevented him picking up his substantial pay packet during his seven-month stay at St James' Park.

Moore has pocketed more than £400,000 in wages despite a complete lack of action, leading to inevitable comparisons with Spanish misfit Marcelino.

The former Newcastle defender's 17 league appearances cost more than £700,000 a game and, while Moore is yet to prove that expensive, his one-sided relationship with the club is proving equally controversial.

Roeder remains confident the Australian can still play a part in the final two months of the season, but even he was forced to catch his breath when Moore requested to join up with his international colleagues next week.

As skipper of the Socceroos, the defender asked to fly to Holland to take part in a training camp organised by Australia's Dutch manager, Guus Hiddink.

Roeder has insisted that is out of the question and, instead of playing his way into the World Cup picture on Monday, Moore will be playing in front of a handful of fans as Newcastle's reserves take on Blackburn at Morecambe.

"There was an opportunity for Craig to go away to a four-day Australian training camp in Holland next week," said Roeder, who remains unbeaten in his four games as Newcastle's caretaker boss. "Guus Hiddink has the whole of the squad together and he's desperate to go.

"I've told him he can't. There is no way he can possibly go and join up with an Australian camp before he's played some football for us.

"If he was to go there and get injured, our fans and the chairman would rightly be disgusted. It would be scandalous.

"Let's hope he gets through Monday night but, if he was to have another problem, at least it would be a problem in a black and white shirt. At least we can tell ourselves we've done everything correctly.

"He's desperate to play in the World Cup and he wants to be in that squad. But I've spoken to him two or three times and he understands our position. As much as he wants to go, he's sensible enough to know that he has to play for Newcastle first and prove his fitness.

"Craig is not a young player. Guus Hiddink is one of the top coaches in the world and, in my opinion, Craig Moore does not need to be in Holland for two or three days to prove what he can do."

Despite having trained for the last month, Moore remains at least a fortnight away from full fitness. The length of his absence means he is something of an unknown quantity but, with Newcastle currently suffering an all-too-common injury crisis, any defensive addition would be welcomed with open arms.

Titus Bramble's hamstring injury leaves Roeder with just four fit defenders ahead of this evening's Premiership clash with Everton and, of those, only Jean-Alain Boumsong is a recognised centre-half.

Boumsong has hardly set the world alight since making an £8m move from Rangers last January but, with Robbie Elliott ready to line up alongside him later today, the Frenchman will be expected to assume added responsibility as Newcastle look to see off an Everton side who are unbeaten in the Premiership since the turn of the year.

The 26-year-old is another player hoping to feature in the World Cup this summer and, while Roeder admits the centre-half has been stung by recent criticism, Graeme Souness' successor expects him to rise to the challenge of marshalling a makeshift Magpies backline.

"When Titus got injured on Wednesday night, I thought Jean-Alain picked his game right up," he said. "He took on the extra responsibility as soon as Titus was removed from the side.

"I'd seen Jean-Alain play for Auxerre quite a few times, but now I've got to know him as a person. He is an incredibly proud man.

"He's been criticised and he's had to take that on the chin. He's got broad shoulders, but I'm sure he will have been wounded by everything that's been thrown at him.

"Now I know the character he has got, I'm sure he will be fighting hard to change people's opinion of him."

With Elliott tucking inside, Celestine Babayaro is a certain starter at left-back after completing a two-match ban.

The Nigerian could also be joined in the starting line-up by Alan Shearer, although Roeder will not be gambling on the United skipper's fitness with next month's FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea drawing ever closer.

Shearer will undergo a lunch-time fitness test on his injured calf and, while the continued absence of both Michael Owen and Kieron Dyer leaves Newcastle particularly weak up front, rushing his return is seen as an unnecessary gamble at this stage of the season.

"I'm confident that Alan knows what's best for him," said Roeder.

"But I'm also confident in myself.

"If I detect even the slightest doubt in his mind, I'll be making sure he doesn't make the wrong decision.

"There are 12 games left - still a lot of points to play for.

"I've told Alan we wouldn't want any accidents, where he came back one match too soon and went on to miss seven or eight games.

"We want to push up the table and we still have an opportunity to go further in the cup."

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