Alex Ferguson had some bad news for Newcastle's back line and all the other Premiership defenders - Ruud van Nistelrooy is getting better all the time. Van Nistelrooy has yielded an excellent return on the £19 million sterling Manchester United paid PSV Eindhoven for his services in the summer by scoring 19 goals in 23 competitive games.

The Dutch international is bang in form and he has netted 11 times in his last 10 games going into tonight's Premiership showdown with Newcastle at Old Trafford.

Ferguson is delighted with this tally, especially after van Nistelrooy missed virtually all of last season with a cruciate ligaments injury. He feels the 25-year-old is improving and that it will be another two years before he hits his career-best form.

"I said this about Ruud and I'm right in that he will get better," said the United manager. "There's a rawness about him and you must also consider his whole situation. I think he only played about eight games after being out for a year with injury.

"I said to him that there would be times when I would leave him out and that I would monitor his progress differently from the rest of the players because of his circumstances. There's been evidence that I've been right in that because he has shown tiredness in one or two games.

"But he has also shown some fantastic things and he's getting better all the time. In two years you're going to see a very good player."

Van Nistelrooy will spearhead United's attack against Newcastle in what will be the first true test of the Reds' revival.

The champions have won five games in succession to put their early-season wobbles behind them and rekindle their title ambitions.

Newcastle, who beat Leads and Arsenal away last month, will provide much tougher opposition than Premiership makeweights Fulham, Everton, Derby, Southampton or Middlesbrough.

The game will rekindle memories of the teams' tussle for the title six years ago when United made up a 12-point deficit to overhaul the Magpies.

Van Nistelrooy could be partnered up front by Ryan Giggs again and the pair were electrifying against Fulham. Ferguson claims he has devised the partnership mainly for away matches and that he had planned to use them together before Giggs injured his hamstring.

Ryan Giggs sat out yesterday's training session on Carrington's all-weather pitch along with David Beckham, Phil Neville, Laurent Blanc and Fabien Barthez, but all five are expected to be available.

Juan Sebastian Veron could return after he missed the Fulham game with a sore knee.

Newcastle captain Alan Shearer is back in prime form for his 500th start in league and cup football. The 31-year-old, who will also mark his 200th game for his hometown club at Old Trafford, is - in the opinion of manager Bobby Robson - playing as well as he has done in his two-and-a-half years at St James' Park.

He will come up against a man his manager knows only too well. Van Nistelrooy spent a year honing his trade under Robson at PSV Eindhoven, and the 68-year-old needs no reminding of his prowess in front of goal.

But he is confident his own number one marksman can produce the goods at the other end in yet another red letter day for the former England captain, who celebrated his 100th goal in a black-and-white shirt in November.

Shearer will be desperate to mark his latest milestone with another solid performance against the reigning champions to rekindle Newcastle's title challenge after Saturday's home defeat by Chelsea.

The Premiership's leading scorer still firmly believes he claimed the winner in the thrilling 4-3 victory over Ferguson's men on Tyneside on September 15th - Robson's 100th game in charge - although the dubious goals panel did not agree.

Having taken his tally for the season to 11 against Chelsea, he will be keener than ever to find the back of the net against the club which chased him for years.

Shearer's achievements are all the more remarkable because of the three serious injuries he has picked up during his career.

"It's taken a little while, but he's done very well," said Robson. "He's played every match, and it's been two matches a week.

"He's led the line all the time. He probably didn't have as much movement on Saturday as he had at Leeds and down at Arsenal, but he was fantastic against Middlesbrough.

"But it's a lot of games for a guy who had been out for so long. You need a lot of strength and energy and toughness all the time. Things come thick, fast and heavy, but he's done very well. I haven't thought about leaving him out or resting him. He doesn't like it anyway, but he's tough and strong and very reliable.

Shearer freely admits Robson revived his career after his misery under Ruud Gullit, and, while he now has greater assistance with the pace of Craig Bellamy and Kieron Dyer, he still remains the focus of the Magpies attack.

"He's a good hold-up merchant and he's got great positional sense," said Robson. "We know if we hit him it's not going to break down off him. He's going to hold it up, and if we get the ball across the face of goal he'll be in there.

Robson knows van Nistelrooy almost as well as he knows Shearer, and having seen another former PSV man - Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen - shoot his side down in flames at the weekend he is understandably wary.

"I know Ruud. I spent a year of my life with him every day on the training pitch," he said. "He's a very, very fine player and he'll be a sensational hit with Manchester United for many years."

Robson has a doubt over midfielder Laurent Robert (hip), while he will make a late assessment of Dyer who is feeling the effects of nine games in 24 days since his return from injury.