NEWCASTLE goalkeeper Steve Harper has welcomed Alan Shearer's tough new rules after admitting discipline had been allowed to slide.

Shearer has introduced stringent new regulations with increased fines for offenders as he attempts to foster a recovery on and off the pitch, with midfielder Joey Barton suspended until further notice by the club for a breach of discipline.

That has apparently not gone down well with some of the players he inherited from Joe Kinnear and Kevin Keegan before him, but 34-year-old Harper, who like Shearer played under Sir Bobby Robson's regime, insists it has been a positive change.

Harper told NUFC TV: "Players respond to discipline, it's needed.

"At times in the past, it maybe wasn't what it should have been here.

"But he (Shearer) has tightened it up and players respond to it, and that can only be a good thing."

Shearer took over at St James' Park last month for the final eight games of the season with the club sliding towards relegation.

Five matches in, he is still waiting for his first victory after seeing his side collect only two points from the 15 they have contested to date.

However, Harper believes he has already made a big impact.

The keeper said: "He has tightened things up and lifted the atmosphere around the place.

"The fixture list hasn't been kind to us and we have been missing a few players, but he is definitely the right man to try to get us out of this situation.

"We were drifting along. We have lost three of the games and managed to get a couple of draws.

"But just remember what Alan Shearer does to this club - if anybody was going to get us to win these next two games and go into Villa full of confidence, then it would be the gaffer."

Newcastle's fate will depend largely on what they do in their next two fixtures, home clashes with derby rivals Middlesbrough and Fulham, before they head for Aston Villa on the final day of the campaign.

Harper, the club's longest-serving player, knows exactly what is at stake.

He said: "We are still in touch. We have got two home games now and if we can get maximum points, we have got to fancy our chances.

"We have got to do our job. These are two fixtures we identified a long time ago, and the time has come.

"There has been a lot of talk about them, but we have got to go and win these two games because that is our only chance now."