ALAN SHEARER has installed his own rules and made the training ground a more intense place in the hope that the defensive errors which have blighted Newcastle United over the last few years can be eradicated.

After his managerial bow ended in defeat to Chelsea a week ago, Shearer and his coaching team have been trying to raise the tempo in training in a bid to make it more match-like and boost fitness levels in the process.

With today’s trip to Stoke City a crucial fixture in the Premier League’s relegation tussle, the Newcastle boss is hopeful his little tweaks will reap immediate rewards.

Having already demanded that his players eat together after training, Shearer has spent the last five days trying to ensure there is a more vibrant and whole-hearted approach, ensuring his rules are adhered to.

“They’ve been great.

They’ve taken to the ideas, the little things like that, really well,” said Shearer.

“I think they’ve wanted to do that. They’ve wanted to be told where to be, at what time to be there – to be together.

“They’ve wanted to be pointed in that direction. You can use a million excuses.

There are injuries. Are the players fit enough? But what we’ve had from the players is that the tempo of training needed to be a bit quicker, a bit more intense.

“You can’t train for three hours every day, you can’t run them into the ground. But you have to gauge from the experienced players we have as to how long to train for.

“It’s very difficult to do much about the fitness levels in such a short space of time.

What you can do is up the tempo in training and we’ve done that.

“The players’ response to that has been fantastic.

They’ve shown a real attitude to say that this is the way they want to go.”

Newcastle had more than held their own against Chelsea last weekend until Fabricio Coloccini’s blunder gifted the visitors the chance to score the opener through Frank Lampard.

Coloccini’s error was just the latest in a long line of calamitous decisions made by Newcastle defenders and all have been noted by Shearer as Newcastle captain, as a pundit and now as manager.

“You have to look at the reasons as to why Newcastle – or we – have not managed to last 90 minutes,” he said. “There are a million excuses that everyone can give you. Is it concentration? Is it that they’re not fit enough? Not sharp enough? Has the training been as intense as it perhaps should be?

“For 60 minutes we did OK against Chelsea and I was reasonably happy, but we’ve got to turn that to 92, 93 minutes.

We have to eradicate errors in our game, because the longer you keep making errors, the more you’ll get punished.”

The changes Shearer has made have been welcomed within the dressing room, where there has already been talk centred around the chances of the club’s all-time leading scorer taking over from Joe Kinnear on a full-time basis.

“In the short term, I would like it to be very successful,” said goalkeeper Steve Harper. “In the next seven weeks, as long as there are three teams that finish below us, there will be a big clamour for him to stay but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

“Alan, I mean the gaffer – I’m doing it on purpose – said that would be a scenario we would all like to happen. So if three finish below us, that would be great.

“It is still the first week but he has instilled discipline and professionalism and players have responded to him and appreciated it. It has gone down well with the lads.”

While Newcastle’s supporters may have given up on seeing Australian striker Mark Viduka lining up in a black and white shirt before the end of the season, Shearer certainly hasn’t.

Viduka, who will not be involved at Stoke, has struggled all season with a series of problems, mainly a troublesome Achilles, and could join in full training next week.

“I didn’t think there was a chance of him being fit until I came in but I think Mark is another one that is showing great desire,” said Shearer.

“A fit Mark Viduka would be massively important. He, along with Michael (Owen) and Oba (Martins), at this stage last year when they were playing together up front – they were the main reason we got out of trouble last year.

“We are aiming to get Mark fit and out on the pitch for an hour or so.”