Squad strength reassures Speed

By Alex Eeles

Newcastle FC midfield player Gary Speed knows a spate of injuries to key players has made his team's UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Olympique de Marseille considerably tougher.

Injury crisis
Craig Bellamy, Jermaine Jenas and Kieron Dyer are all set to miss Thursday's first leg at St James' Park after sustaining injuries in the Magpies' hard-fought Premiership draw with Aston Villa FC last weekend.

Strength in depth
But Speed told uefa.com that he is confident the Newcastle squad has sufficient strength in depth to make light of the current crisis. "I am sure our squad is strong enough to cope against Marseille," the 34-year-old insisted.

Stepping up
"Our draw with Aston Villa showed many of the qualities which should serve us well in our UEFA Cup semi-final," he added. "It did prove costly in terms of injuries but we have good young players prepared to take responsibility and step up."

Outstanding displays
One player who Speed is delighted not to be without is centre-back Jonathan Woodgate. The 24-year-old has been in outstanding form since his return from injury in January and is now hot favourite to replace Rio Ferdinand at the heart of England's defence at UEFA EURO 2004™.

Leading role
Rightly so, according to Speed. "Jonathan is in such great form at the moment and is rightly being touted for a leading role for England in Portugal this summer," he said. "His superlative displays also underline how hampered we were without him earlier in the season."

Surprise package
However, Woodgate and company will need to be at the top of their game if they are to progress against a Marseille team who have already seen off Liverpool FC and FC Internazionale. Speed insists there is no danger of Newcastle underestimating the quality of José Anigo's side.

Proven pedigree
"They will be a tough proposition," he acknowledged. "They have got plenty of talented players - not least [Didier] Drogba, who caused Liverpool so many problems, and of course goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Unfortunately for us he appears to have curbed some of his crazy lapses on the pitch!"

Consistent displays
Barthez is not the only one to have put a stop to his erratic form. After a mixed start to the season, the last few months have seen a dramatic improvement in the consistency of Newcastle's displays and Speed believes there was no better proof of this than their quarter-final victory against PSV Eindhoven.

Reasserting themselves
"The games are coming thick and fast and that's great for us because we have certainly developed a greater consistency recently," he said. "That was underlined by the way we reasserted ourselves against PSV when they got back into last week's quarter-final at St James' Park."

Golden oldies
It was Speed's vital second goal which gave Newcastle a 2-1 victory in that match and proved decisive in the tie. And with fellow veteran Alan Shearer also on target that night, the match underlined the importance of the pair to manager Sir Bobby Robson who has fondly christened them as his 'Old Stagers'.

'On their toes'
"Of course it was very satisfying for me to score the decisive header," Speed admitted. "But I must say something about this age thing. Alan Shearer and I are in the same boat on this one. We are two hungry players who want to show the younger guys we are better than them - which is great for Newcastle because it keeps them on their toes as well." Against Marseille, they will need to be.

Gary Speed's personal website is at www.icons.com