'We have had a look at Kieron,' said Robson. 'He has worked hard in training and I have had a chat with him and the medical staff. Now I have to have a long think about it. It will be a gamble if we play him but he has extended the hamstring and didn't feel it. He is desperate to put himself forward. Craig is doing well but he is slightly behind Kieron. He is trying hard to be ready for the weekend.'
Robert will have infuriated his manager with an interview in a French magazine in which he called for Marseille to make their move.
He said: 'Marseille are following me and want to hire me and Pape Diouf, who is my agent, would be delighted if I joined the team. I appreciate such an important club are following me. I am attracted by the Marseille challenge but they will have difficulties in matching my wage demands. In England the wages are very important. I am happy to reduce them, but just a little.'
When asked about the piece, Robson said: 'I am aware of the interview but I have not read it. I have more important things to worry about.'
That involves lifting players hurt when fans left St James' Park on Sunday rather than acknowledging the team's lap of honour. Robson maintains the squad are in positive mood, galvanised by the reaction of a normally loyal public who have given their team no chance of succeeding this week.
Wales captain Gary Speed said: 'We believe we can go to both places and get wins. Nobody else does, but if we don't believe we might as well go on our holidays now. If we don't believe, we are not professionals. We have won at Southampton already this season and, hopefully, we can do it again.
'There are times in every manager's reign when not everything is rosy. The best managers in the world get stick at some time and there is never a time when it never happens. It's part of the job, but if anybody can deal with it and come through, it's the gaffer.'
