TEN weeks after he was first booked on to a flight to mainland Europe, Alan Shearer finally arrived on the Continent yesterday. It may feel a lot longer than that but it was in mid July when Shearer, then a Blackburn Rovers player, was seemingly bound for Milan on a plane carrying Manchester United.
It turned out to be an unsavoury hoax for all involved, not least for the company Travel Management, but the firm was given a chance to redeem themselves and deposited Shearer, now a Newcastle United player, safely into the Swedish coastal resort of Halmstad.
Surprisingly balmy Scandinavian sun greeted Shearer and his Newcastle team mates as they trained at the compact Orjansvall stadium last night. Their defence of a four goal lead from the first leg against the Swedish part timers should be straightforward, but preparations have been hampered by injuries collected at Elland Road on Saturday by Peter Beardsley and David Ginola.
Beardsley has at least travelled to Halmstad but Ginoia's hamstring strain prevented the Frenchman travelling and he may be out for up to 10 days.
Ginola would usually not have far to look to see the repercussions of this as Keith Gillespie is normally his room mate. Presumably Gillespie has found someone else to share with on this trip, but it should be the young Irishman who benefits from Ginola's absence both short term, and if he can find the form, then also in the longer term.
Gillespie was an automatic choice until injured at Old Trafford last December and has struggled to make an impact since his return. Revelations of huge gambling debts have not helped the 21 year old and yesterday he said: "It's been frustrating for me since Christmas. Things haven't gone right and I'm just hoping that time is over.
"If I play (against Halmstads) it will be due to the bad luck of David, but these are the chances you have to take no matter how you get them. We've got such a strong squad sometimes you wonder if you're even going to be on the bench."
Kevin Keegan was being cagey with his selection but two men who will surely not be watching from the seats are Les Ferdinand and David Batty. Ferdinand missed the Leeds game but looks certain to partner Shearer and Asprilla in a £28.5 million forward line.
For Batty though, the game has a deeper significance. It is almost a year since his last match in Europe when he traded punches with fellow Blackburn player, Graeme le Saux. It is not an incident Batty brags about.
"Europe hasn't been too kind to me so far, I've had some dodgy moments. I've seen things like that happen in training when I haven't been involved. I suppose it was part of a shameful night. But I've paid the price and that's why I didn't play in the first leg."
Batty stressed the need for a "good, tidy job" tonight to ensure Newcastle are in Friday's draw because, in his opinion, "to say we're capable of winning this competition is realistic".
