Newcastle's new manager, Alan Shearer, has said he will do "everything he can" to prevent the club being relegated from the Premier League.

Newcastle lie 18th in the league, two points from safety with eight matches remaining and Shearer admitted it was a challenge he could not turn down. "It's a club I love and I, just like many thousands of people, desperately don't want the club to go down and I will do everything I can to try to prevent that," he said. "It's a tough situation Newcastle are in and I feel deeply for this club.

"I believe I can help it along with the players, there is a nucleus here that can get this club out of trouble. They are very good players lacking confidence and it's up to me and the staff to get the best out of them."

The 38-year-old, who has completed all but one of his coaching badges and is still to gain his Fifa Pro Licence, has brought in the former Southampton team-mate and ex-QPR manager Iain Dowie to assist him and will hold his first training session with the squad today.

He takes over from caretaker boss Chris Hughton, who himself was standing in for Joe Kinnear, who is recovering from heart bypass surgery. "This is for an eight-game spell, I'm looking no further than that," Shearer told Radio 5 Live. "Joe Kinnear is in the job at the moment and recovering well from his operation. I'm here for eight games and eight games only and [I aim] to try to keep this team in the Premier League."