NEWCASTLE boss Sir Bobby Robson last night insisted that Alan Shearer's predatory instinct is "better than ever'' - and backed him to beat Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry to this season's Premiership Golden Boot.

Shearer, 33, is one goal short of his best pre-Christmas haul for the Magpies.

His brace in the 4-0 home win over Spurs last Saturday hoisted his tally to 16, matching his previous best before the festive season four years ago when Robson took over from Ruud Gullit and revitalised Shearer's career.

Shearer ended the campaign with 30 and that is still his best seasonal haul for the club.

But Robson feels he can equal the feat with the right service.

With 15 top-flight goals, Shearer is three clear of Manchester United's van Nistelrooy and five ahead of Arsenal's Henry.

And Robson said: "If Alan could win the Golden Boot, it would be a great feat. His two direct opponents are Henry and van Nistelrooy, who play for the teams everybody thinks are playing the best football and creating more chances.

"For Alan to be ahead of them is quite incredible. It shows he is better than ever in terms of his finishing. He's probably got better players around him now than when I first came here, which helps.

"He's a great player in the box. If we get balls in there, he can get 30 goals this season. He's instinctive and knows where the ball is going to be.

"He's not gone back in any way. He's been prolific every season. He's had a wonderful run since I restored him to the team. When I came here he wasn't in the team.

"He loves scoring. The smile comes on his face, he raises his right hand, and away he goes. If we can provide the service, I'm sure he'll chalk.''

Shearer, who keeps passing milestones, still plans to hang up his boots at the end of next season.

He said: "As far as records are concerned, the more merrier. I don't mind milestones - I wouldn't complain if there were one or two every week. But picking up points is more important.''

Robson is looking to bring in a new strike partner for Shearer and admits that, "in the ideal world'', he would like to land two players during next month's transfer window.

He admits that, in retrospect, it was a mistake not to sign a couple more players in the summer.

But he insists he won't be cowed by the spending power of the likes of Chelsea.

"We don't work off what other clubs are doing,'' stressed Robson. "We just have to do what we think is right for this club. In an ideal world, I would like a couple of players and the chairman is aware of that.

"The chairman spent quite a bit last season on Woodgate, Bramble and Viana.

"In the summer, for us to do better, we perhaps needed two players but we didn't move and things became a bit scary because of the start we had to the season.

"We've kind of recovered since then, but if it was financially possible, we could do with two more players.

"The pressure came upon us when we lost some matches we didn't expect to lose and went out of the Champions League.

"But we're inching our way back. I think every club could do with two new players.

"Arsenal and Man. United would buy two players tomorrow if they could.

"Chelsea could buy anyobody at any time, I think, particularly if they say there's £40m for Henry or £50m for van Nistelrooy.

"That means there's £25m for two midfielders. If they're saying we have £50m for one, they have £25m for two, which is very nice.''

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