SIR Bobby Robson is desperate to ensure that his final season on Tyneside ends with Newcastle maintaining their status as the North-East's top dogs.

The Magpies will kick off their Premiership campaign at the Riverside this evening against a Middlesbrough side determined to upset the regional balance of power.

Boro boss Steve McClaren has brought five internationals to Teesside this summer to bolster a squad he feels is stronger than any other he has had during his three years at the club.

Newcastle have never finished below Middlesbrough while Robson has been at the helm and, as the 71-year-old prepares to start his final nine months in the St James' Park hot seat, he is desperate to defend that record.

"It's always important for me to retain a club's status wherever I'm working," said Robson. "But everyone knows what it means to me here at Newcastle.

"I'm a Geordie lad who's been born and bred in the area and I've always bled black and white thanks to my father.

"I've still got a huge enthusiasm to try to do very well here and try to win something.

"Middlesbrough have made some good signings this summer and will expect to do well - but so have we.

"We've brought four very good players into this club and we're looking forward to a successful season."

That season begins under a cloud this evening as Robson has seen his pre-season preparations decimated by a combination of injury and illness.

The conjuctivitus virus that has infected the club continues to wreak havoc - Andy O'Brien and Lee Bowyer are both ruled out of tonight's game because of their eye problems - and Robson has been unable to talk to his team as a collective group because of the club's self-imposed policy of isolation.

The Newcastle boss admits that the last seven days have presented unique, and at times insurmountable, problems. But he remains confident that his side's battling qualities will come to the fore on Teesside.

"I can honestly say I have never known anything like what we have experienced this week," said Robson. "It is probably the worst preparation I can ever remember for a match.

"But there's no point moaning about it and we will do the very best that we can. We've got to go in with optimism because we've still got a very strong squad.

"We feel we're well covered and you have to be able to handle these things over the course of a season.

"Last season we got our bad luck at the end of the season, hopefully this time we've got it out of the way at the start."

Newcastle's biggest problems lie at the heart of their defence as they will travel to the Riverside without a recognised centre-half.

Jonathan Woodgate is still as far away from fitness as ever after missing the whole of pre-season and will meet leading German specialist Hans Muller Wohlfahrt next week in an attempt to get to the bottom of his lingering thigh problem.

Titus Bramble and Steven Taylor are both on the injured list, so Robson will have to hand Aaron Hughes and Robbie Elliott the task of shackling new Boro signing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Elliott has not started a Premiership game since Newcastle beat West Ham 4-0 on the opening day of the 2002-03 campaign but, despite that being 78 matches ago, Robson maintains he never drew a line under the 30-year-old's United career.

"Robbie was never bombed out of the club," he said. "That suggests he was never going to come back and that wasn't the case.

"He's had limited chances since we brought him back to Newcastle, but that's because of the quality of the players he finds himself up against. It's a case of cometh the hour cometh the man, and I'm sure he'll do very well. He's taken part in all the pre-season matches and earned his place.

"He's got a good left foot and he's good in the air. He knows he's coming in at a crucial time because we've got a lot of defenders out.

"It's a good thing that we signed Stephen Carr when we did because, if we hadn't, we wouldn't have had enough defenders at all."

Carr will make his Newcastle debut just four days after signing from Tottenham, but fellow summer signing Patrick Kluivert is expected to start on the bench as Robson keeps faith in his established strike pairing of Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer.

Rumours of a rift between Robson and his skipper have dominated the summer headlines but, as Shearer prepares to enter his final season on Tyneside, his boss is desperate to see him write his name into the Newcastle record books.

Shearer, who celebrated his 34th birthday yesterday, needs 27 more goals to equal Jackie Milburn's record of 200 successful strikes in a Newcastle shirt, and Robson would love to see the former England captain achieve the feat.

"He deserves it because he's been a great player," said the United boss.

"I'll be elated if he scores 27 goals this season.

"It depends on the service he gets and it depends on how many chances we make for him, but we'll try to give him a season to remember.

"We've had a meeting this week and we've tried to settle the situation down.

"There's no rift here and there's no disharmony."