Alan Shearer believes Obafemi Martins could have lifted Newcastle United out of the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday afternoon, had he not ruled himself out of the match at the Britannia Stadium.

With the Magpies in serious danger of losing their top-flight status they need all their players pulling in the same direction, so it was a huge blow when Martins surprisingly revealed a groin injury on Saturday morning.

The Nigerian international immediately ruled himself out of the fixture at Stoke City, which United battled to a 1-1 draw, and Shearer made little secret of his disappointment at the former Inter Milan ace.

"Possibly we could have won the game if Obafemi Martins had been fit," said the St James Park manager. "I was disappointed it took until 11 o'clock to sort out the injury in the first place.

"There was no evidence earlier in the week that he had the injury. It was disappointing that after two days of practising a system, we weren't able to implement it.

"He just said he woke up late and had a sore groin, the medical staff saw him and he wasn't fit to play. We've asked him to explain it, and we'll look at him further in the morning."

A win for Newcastle would have lifted them on the same amount of points as 17th placed Sunderland, so has Martins let the Toon Army down with his somewhat contentions injury?