Newcastle United assistant boss Iain Dowie has revealed he and manager Alan Shearer have been working closely with young centre-forward Andy Carroll since their arrival.

Dowie said: "You could argue that Andy should be sick and tired of myself and Alan out on the training ground pestering him to get the best out of him. That will help him improve.

"I have said to him he's got a superb left foot and superb prowess and heading abilities in front of goal. There's so much there to work with.

"When you look at people like Peter Crouch, you see what there is to aim for.

"If we can get all of that raw talent out, then we have got a player on our hands. That's what we're doing.

"He's a good kid and he wants to work hard. That's the great thing about Andy - he wants to get better."