GRAEME Souness last night spoke of his frustration after watching his side put in one of their best performances of the season, only to go down to a freak Patrick Vieira strike.

The Newcastle boss was angry that referee Steve Bennett failed to spot Ashley Cole's first-half hand ball, but felt his side's overall performance warranted some reward.

Vieira's deflected strike in first half injury time was enough to send Arsenal to within five points of league leaders Chelsea, and Souness said: "I'm going home frustrated because I think there's a game we should have got something from.

"Not just because of the penalty but because of the amount of effort we put in. We deserved something from the game.

"We were playing against a very good side and on another night we would have come away with a win or a draw.

"I think Kieron, JJ (Jermaine Jenas) and Lee Bowyer deserve a special mention. A large part of the stadium gave the players a standing ovation at the end and that's what I want to see. They're the judges of this side."

Souness also spoke of how pleased he was with the performance of young defender Steven Taylor, who was unfortunate to earn a first half booking.

Souness said: "I thought he was our best player at Blackburn and he was unlucky with the booking tonight. He's a strapping lad and I think eventually he'll play at centre-back.

"But you don't see many 18-year-olds at centre half and he's got time on his side."

Souness revealed some positive news on the injury front, with skipper Alan Shearer and full back Stephen Carr both expected to come into contention for the game against Birmingham City on Saturday.

"We had four youngsters on the bench tonight so it showed we were down to the bare bones. But I've got some nice selection problems ahead of Saturday."

The manager also received the backing of skipper Shearer, who confirmed he expected to be back at the weekend.

"This club demands football success. The fans want it and the manager does and he should be given time to achieve that," said Shearer, who picked up the Newcastle United disabled supporters club player-of-the-year award before the game.

"I've been back in full training for a couple of days and it's been the first time in five or six weeks that I've been able to kick a ball without pain. Hopefully I'll be back at the weekend."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was also impressed with the spirit shown by the Magpies and admitted his players had been in a battle at St James' Park.

Wenger said: "In a game like that, when Newcastle are up for it, we showed that the character and desire and hunger is still there.

"When our game is not as fluent as it can be then the character of the players shows through."

* Newcastle will confirm the signing of Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro this morning. The 26-year-old Nigerian left back passed a medical on Tyneside on Tuesday but any hopes Souness had of playing the defender this weekend have been dashed by the Premier League.

League bosses revealed yesterday that no player signed would be available before January 5 ruling Babayaro ineligible until the trip to play Yeading in the FA Cup a week on Sunday.

* A Rangers delegation including manager Alex McLeish was at St James' Park last night running the rule over Newcastle defenders Titus Bramble, Aaron Hughes and Olivier Bernard with a view to a possible swap deal for Souness' top target Jean Alain Boumsong.

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