Newcastle United boss Alan Shearer says he's had no problems with controversial midfielder Joey Barton.

He said: "I've had no problems with him whatsoever. Whatever we've asked of him, he's done fine. We've had no problems at all, but then I didn't really expect there to be any either.

"He's desperate to play football, that's what he wants. He's fed up of being injured, he wants to go out and he wants to play. But there's no point pushing him to the extreme.

"We don't want to be pushing him so much that we cause a setback. We want him fit, but when he is handed over to us for full training, we want him to be right."