Shearer on song for Magpies

Newcastle 1Leeds 0

With Leeds deep in debt and the opening of the transfer window last week, the obvious assumption has been that Smith, Mark Viduka and Paul Robinson are fair game.

But chief executive and acting chairman Trevor Birch has made it clear on a number of occasions over the last few weeks that the club do not have to sell.

Smith has been linked with a number of clubs as has Viduka, with Manchester United potentially poised to make a move given Fulham's stubborn refusal to let striker Louis Saha switch to Old Trafford while Manchester City are interested in Robinson.

Yet Smith can not only vouch for himself and that his future remains with Leeds as he insists the squad are united behind caretaker boss Eddie Gray and determined to avoid relegation.

"I've said it enough times (I don't want to go)," said Smith, who has decided to start his two-match bottle-throwing ban immediately.

Meanwhile, Motherwell chairman Bill Dickie has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Celtic-bound Stephen Pearson.

The 21-year-old is set for a move to his boyhood favourites after the Fir Park club reluctantly agreed a stg£350,000 fee for the player.

Celtic's initial offer of stg£250,000 was dismissed and negotiations then centred on the possible loan of players from Parkhead as part of the deal.

But that foundered as Martin O'Neill refused to release the players wanted or the players in question did not want to leave.

Celtic then upped their bid to stg£300,000 before finally agreeing a figure of stg£350,000 after Well boss Terry Butcher conceded defeat.

But Butcher's chairman insists the club, who are still in administration, are unhappy that Pearson was not prepared to wait until the end of the season where the club were prepared to take their chances with a tribunal deciding the fee.

Dickie said: "We have very reluctantly accepted an offer of £350,000. Initially, Celtic offered £250,000 but that was wholly unacceptable.

"Although the offer was increased, we still feel it is substantially below the true value of the player and we were perfectly prepared to leave the matter to a tribunal.

"However, after extensive discussions with Terry Butcher, it became clear he did not have any confidence in Stephen Pearson being ready and willing to meet the challenges that will lie ahead at Fir Park until the end of the season.

"In view of that, it was agreed it was in the best interests of Motherwell to sell the player to Celtic."