Shearer relives the night he had to think the unthinkable

The United captain will lead the fight for derby honours today against Peter Reid's side at St James' Park, desperate to avenge the 2-1 reverse in August last year which brought an end to Ruud Gullit's reign.

Shearer, 30, was forced to watch from the bench for much of that fateful night as Dutchman Gullit made a stand in his personal battle with the £15m striker.

And while it was Gullit who eventually packed his bags, former England skipper Shearer acknowledges that if United had managed to get something out of the game, he may have had to think the unthinkable.

''If the manager didn't want me to be here, then obviously I would have had to consider the worst,'' he said.

''I say consider it, there was nothing in my head at that time; I was just hurt and angry about what had happened.

''But I would certainly have had to think about it if I wasn't wanted. The thing that hurt me most was actually finding out the way I did that I wasn't playing, an hour and a half before the game on the noticeboard. That wasn't nice.

''But what I've also said is that every manager has the right to make those decisions and that's what he gets paid for.

''Obviously, I didn't agree with it at the time, but he was well within his rights to do that. He was the manager, he could pick and choose who he wanted - but the gamble didn't pay off for him.''

The events of that remarkable match have simply served to further whet Shearer's appetite for today's clash.

''This is the game we all look for on the calendar when the fixtures are announced at the start of the season,'' he said. ''We've been looking forward to it for a long time.

''We're confident we can get three points and I don't see any reason why we can't.

''It means a hell of a lot to me personally as a Geordie because I know what it means to the people. If you win, you harp on about it for weeks. If you get beaten, you get harped on to for weeks, so it's very important.''