ALAN SHEARER and Iain Dowie last night watched Andy Carroll grab a brace to secure Newcastle reserves an impressive 2-1 victory against a strong Manchester City lineup.

Both Carroll and the impressive Nile Ranger did their chances of being included in Saturday’s first-team squad to face Stoke City the power of good.

But the Magpies’ boss will have been concerned to see Danny Guthrie limping off after less than 40 minutes of the first half after the midfielder took a kick to his knee.

His withdrawal was only precautionary, and his lively cameo appearance suggests he is approaching a recall to first-team action.

And Shearer will have been heartened to see Alan Smith enjoy a useful run-out, playing in a defensive midfield role just in front of the back four. The forward rarely overexerted himself, but will have been delighted to come through 90 minutes unscathed.

Carroll, a willing target man all evening, opened the scoring after 15 minutes; latching on to a neat pass from Xisco and crashing past City keeper Richard Martin from just inside the area. And the Gateshead-born striker will have caught Shearer’s eye with his well-taken second when a clever pass from Ranger was coolly dispatched.

City boss Mark Hughes was among a 1,547 crowd who watched a City side that included former-Newcastle playmaker Dietmar Hamann and first-teamers Martin Petrov and striker Benjani. The former Portsmouth marksman got his side’s equaliser when he bundled home Petrov’s cross from the byline just after the half-hour mark.

Guthrie had earlier demonstrated his fitness by dominating the early midfield exchanges with some trademark crunching challenges. And he also went close to marking his return with a goal when his snap shot on 20 minutes was well blocked by keeper Martin.

Before his withdrawal, his energy in the centre of the park showed the type of driving presence that Newcastle have lacked in the Premier League of late and Shearer will be hoping his knee injury is not a serious setback. Xisco managed just under 50 minutes, but the Spaniard rarely offered more than the odd flicked pass and is unlikely to have impressed his new boss.

NEWCASTLE: Krul, Tavernier, Lough, Edgar, C Morris, Donninger (Godsmark 49), Smith, Guthrie (Vukic 39), Xisco (Danquah 49), Ranger, Carroll MAN CITY: Martin, Ramsey, B Morris, Mee, McDonald, Hamann, Weiss, Clayton, Ball, Benjani, Petrov (Moore 46)

■ In the Championship last night, Birmingham reduced Wolves’ lead at the top to two points, with a 2-0 win at St Andrews, thanks to goals from Cameron Jerome and Martin O’Connor.