United should have been dead and buried by the time Gateshead-born striker Andy Carroll scored an 81st-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Stoke to give United their first point under Shearer.

Stoke captain and former Magpies midfielder Abdoulaye Faye's 33rd-minute opener came in a first half dominated by Tony Pulis' side.

City spurned further chances at the start of the second period, and when it became apparent the home side would not kill off the game, Shearer made the change that brought its reward.

Ten minutes after Carroll's arrival, the 20-year-old scored a fine header that moves Newcastle within two points of safety, even if they remain in the bottom three.

Shearer, who concedes he is finding management "anything but easy", said: "The attitude of the players has been great.

"In the second half I thought they showed me what they had done in training during the week.

"They showed they can pass it, they can play, and with a little bit more confidence and belief in themselves then we will go on and get results - certainly that's the aim.

"After going a goal down I thought they handled the situation well because there have been too many times this season when Newcastle have conceded a goal, then crumbled and conceded another.

"But it was far from that today as you saw players throwing their bodies on the line, throwing themselves into tackles and prepared to get cut.

"We're going to need all of that, and a little bit more, if we are to survive.

"But the belief is there, which is okay in training, but you have to produce it in the big arena.

"We did that in the second half, and they should take great heart from that - I take great heart from that because I've now seen it in a game.

"We've done it for 45 minutes, but we now have to do it in every game we play."

Shearer was naturally delighted for Carroll, especially after being forced to change his game plan due to Obafemi Martins pulling out with a groin injury at 11am.

"It was a towering header, a fantastic header, one I would have been proud of myself," assessed Shearer.

"I told him and Nile Ranger, who were both on the bench today, that if they wanted to play a huge part in our survival fight then they have to show me in games.

"They did that in the reserves on Monday, and that is why they were in the squad and on the bench, with Andy getting on and proving a point.

"I want everyone to do that - we're going to need to do that."

As for Pulis, he appreciated it was a case of two points dropped, even if they are one nearer the magical 40-point safety mark.

"Everybody will talk about the last 15 minutes when Newcastle came into the game more, but for the previous 75 we were smashing," said Pulis.

"So we're desperately disappointed we never scored another goal in that period because if we had we would have gone on and won the game comfortably.

"In the first 10 minutes of the second half we had a number of opportunities with balls dropping in the box, and you are wondering how they don't hit the back of the net.

"The big disappointment is when you are on top like that you have to score your goals, particularly when you know one goal is often not enough at this level.

"You are playing against good sides who will have a period of the game, and they had their period in the last 10 to 15 minutes.

"But don't anybody kid themselves - I thought we were the better team over the 90 minutes."