The return from injury of England internationals Jonathan Woodgate and Kieron Dyer for Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Southampton should help ease the pressure on Newcastle manager Bobby Robson.

Newcastle, a disappointing seventh in the premier league, were knocked out of the League Cup by first division West Bromwich Albion and Robson and his players were warned this week by chairman Freddy Shepherd to perform or face the consequences.

Central defender Woodgate, 23, has missed the last three premier league games with a torn hamstring while midfielder Dyer, 25, has been sidelined for Newcastle's last two outings with a stomach ailment.

"At the moment, Jonathan Woodgate looks set to return and is in pretty good shape," Robson told reporters on Thursday.

"Woodgate has had a full day's training and looks very hopeful. We kept him out of things against Blackburn at the weekend to ensure he had a further week of training and to be re-assured that his hamstring is fine.

"He's managed a week of pretty decent training, including extra shifts, that will ensure that he is able to come through on Saturday, both physically and clinically."

Dyer, who has made 19 appearances for England, had hospital tests on Monday for a stomach complaint.

"Hopefully that has now been dealt with," Robson added.

"He is now back in training, although he has been practising a little gingerly. We've continued to monitor him."

Newcastle have not won at Southampton since 1972 and Robson will be mindful of his side's sorry exit in the third round of last year's FA Cup at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were then in Division 1.

"That was probably as angry as I've been since I became Newcastle manager (in September 1999) and I don't want a repeat of that this weekend," Robson said. "It is a tough draw and one we didn't want, but neither did Southampton."

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