Stoke City 1 Newcastle United 1 ALAN SHEARER now has six matches to save Newcastle United from Championship football and if successful he will remember one man that saved the day at Stoke City – Andy Carroll.

Having spent the best part of an hour struggling to contend with Stoke’s direct approach they could have no arguments about trailing to Abdoulaye Faye’s downward header after 33 minutes.

But just as it looked as if Newcastle would stay second from bottom of the Premier League, following Middlesbrough’s win over Hull earlier in the day, Carroll became Tyneside’s new local hero.

The Gateshead-born striker, a second half substitute for Shola Ameobi, arrived in the penalty area to head Damien Duff’s delivery high over goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with nine minutes remaining.

And while Newcastle are still two points from safety, level with Boro, there was a new buoyancy about Newcastle’s play in the latter stages that will hearten Shearer and the rest of the Magpies support.

Avoiding defeat at the vibrant Britannia Stadium was paramount after Boro’s lifeline had tightened things up again at the bottom.

But now Shearer, whose side could have been dead and buried well before Carroll’s equaliser, will know that Carroll’s intervention has set things up nicely for next Sunday’s trip to Tottenham.

STOKE CITY (4-4-2): Sorensen; Wilkinson (Kelly 90), Ab. Faye, Shawcross, Higginbotham; Lawrence, Whelan, Delap, Etherington (Pugh 80); Beattie (Cresswell 73), Fuller. Subs: Simonsen, Sonko, Tonge, Olofinjana.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (3-5-2): Harper; Edgar, Beye, Bassong; Taylor, Guthrie (Gutierrez 63), Butt, Nolan, Duff; Owen, Ameobi (Carroll 70). Subs: Krul, Coloccini, Smith, Geremi, Ranger.