ALAN Shearer expects forgotten man Alan Smith to play a crucial role in Newcastle’s battle against relegation.

Having finally recovered from a serious Achilles injury that ruled him out of the whole of the first half of the season, Smith made his fourth appearance of the campaign when he came off the bench to face Tottenham last weekend.

The former England international has been a massive disappointment since making a £6m move from Manchester United in August, 2007, with his failure to score a single goal for the Magpies underlining the poverty of his performances in a black-andwhite shirt.

But with passion and commitment likely to be as crucial as talent and technique in the next five matches, Shearer feels Smith’s never-say-die attitude could be crucial to Newcastle’s chances of avoiding the drop.

“There is still time for Alan to make an impact here,”

said the Magpies manager.

“He has tremendous attitude.

“Things have not gone as well as he would have hoped and as well as everyone else would have wanted, but he has been working well (in training) and that was one of the reasons I gave him an opportunity at Spurs. I put him on at halftime and loved his attitude when he came on.

“You know what you are going to get from Alan. You are going to get someone who will work, fight and scrap. Sometimes he goes over the top in those situations, but his attitude is exactly what we have been looking for.”

While he made his name with Leeds United as a centre-forward, Smith has spent most of the last three or four years playing in central midfield.

He slotted into a midfield role at White Hart Lane last Sunday, and while Shearer still feels he could do a job up front, his appearances between now and the end of the season are likely to be in a central area.

“I think Alan sees his best position as a midfielder now,” said Shearer. “I know he hasn’t scored yet for Newcastle, so if he has not scored, then he won’t say he is a centre forward!

“He sees himself as a midfielder more than a forward, but he has the attitude whereby if you ask him to play anywhere, he will do it without complaining. He is that type of character.

“People will say he may have lost a yard of pace but what I will say about him is I love his attitude and I want him to show it to me in the right way, with the right aggression.

“He did that against Spurs, and he has played himself into contention for Monday’s game (against Portsmouth).”

Paul Hart is convinced his Pompey team have already shown they have what it takes to merit their Premier League status, and that is bad news for Newcastle.

A win on Tyneside that would take them on to the accepted safety mark of 40 points. “We have shown we are highly competitive and we’ve done more than enough to suggest we deserve to be here,’’ he said.