Robson soldiers on without Shearer

His display made for particularly painful viewing for substitute Lucas Radebe, Leeds deposed captain and Jonathan Woodgate's erst-while partner at the heart of the Leeds defence.

As Ferdinand lurched from one mistake to another Radebe must have wondered what he had done to justify being dropped.

One might have excused Ferdinand had he been up against Shearer rather than 19-year-old Shola Ameobi, a striker as raw as the Tyneside afternoon.

Shearer ' s absence, together with Robson's disillusionment with Daniel Cordone and Lomano Lua-Lua, forced Newcastle's boss to give Ameobi, who came to England from Nigeria when he was seven, his full debut.

Faced with the persistent Ameobi and the sorcery of Keiron Dyer, Ferdinand was found wanting.

To be fair to him, neither of the Newcastle goals came from his mistakes. His manager, David O'Leary, leapt to his defence, preferring to blame his whole side for the defeat. 'Dyer and Ameobi gave our back four a bad time, particularly our centre backs,' said O'Leary.

'Rio has been outstanding since joining us, against Aston Villa and Sunderland on the last two Saturdays he played very well, but this wasn't one of his best games. But I thought Dyer was very good.

'Newcastle won it by outbattling us and it was a very disappointing performance.'

Leeds had the benefit of an 10th-minute lead, Olivier Dacourt snaking a low 15-yard free kick beyond the Newcastle wall and goal-keeper Steve Harper after encroachment from Christian Bassedas prompted referee Andy D'Urso to march the ball forward 10 yards.

Instead of using that goal as a platform for victory, Leeds' defence, so solid without Ferdinand against Milan and Lazio earlier this season, was as porous as a sieve and Newcastle should have won by a much greater margin.

After Dyer had clipped the bar, two goals in three minutes just before half-time brought Robson much-needed Christmas cheer.

First, Nolberto Solano curled home a 30-yard free kick via the underside of the bar after 41 minutes. Then, the unmarked Clarence Acuna headed home from Solano's cross.

Leeds fared little better after the break, Dyer twice going close as the introduction of Robbie Keane and David Batty failed to turn the tide although Lee Bowyer struck the inside of an upright.

Life does not get any easier for Newcastle with Manchester United the visitors on Saturday, but last night at least Robson was beaming.

'Ameobi played outstanding well for us and Dyer was a bundle of energy,' said Robson.

'Keiron's playing out of position but he's been fantastic for us. I don't know if we can rely on Shola to play that well every week because he's only 19, but if I'd bought a player who did as well as he did I would have said that we'd bought well.'