Newcastle striker Michael Chopra insists he has never been the victim of racial abuse and now wants to inspire a generation of young Asian footballers.

At a time when instances of racism in the English game are on the increase, Chopra says his remarkable progression through the Newcastle ranks has been free of such problems.

The 18-year-old has been heralded as the man whose rise to prominence could pave the way for a multitude of Asians to break into professional football.

It is a mantle Chopra is happy to carry as he takes another step on the road to the top in tonight's Under-20 international between England and Italy at the Stadium of Light.

He said: "Now I've played for a Premiership side there should be a lot more Asians coming through. Hopefully they can follow in my footsteps.

"I don't see there being any extra pressure on me, but hopefully I can be a great role model for other Asian kids. If I could inspire other lads to emulate what I've done, that would be great.

"The problem of racism has come back recently, but I've never been targeted; nobody has ever made any racist comments to me in a game.

"I was warned about racism when I was younger but luckily it's not been an issue for me in my career.

"I don't really worry about racism because I haven't had the problem myself, so I don't think there's any need for me to be concerned. But there does seem to be a lot of racism around at the moment and I only hope it goes away again very quickly."

Chopra's parents and two sisters will be at the Stadium of Light this evening as the teenager, who like Alan Shearer attended Gosforth High School, lines up against Italy.

He added: "It was great to make my debut against Everton earlier this month and my nerves soon went. I've already been to Kiev with the first team and that was a great experience.

"Being around great players at Newcastle is really good for me, as is playing for my country. I've been a couple of trips with England and I am learning all the time."

* Barcelona have begun a rearguard action to prevent the closure of their world-famous Nou Camp stadium following Saturday's outrageous scenes during the clash with arch-rivals Real Madrid.

It was feared Newcastle's prestige Champions League clash next month would have to be switched to another venue after the Madrid clash was interrupted for 15 minutes when former Barcelona star Louis Figo was bombarded with a barrage of objects hurled by a section of the crowd.

The Spanish FA's disciplinary committee is likely to open an investigation but Barcelona are confident the worst case scenario won't happen.

''They can't close our ground because there didn't occur any of the actions that can lead to a closure,'' lawyer Joseph Coronas, a Barcelona director insisted.