Football: Fractured cheekbone sidelines Beardsley: Newcastle forward injured in testimonial while Blackburn's premier marksman provides encouragement on his return

PETER BEARDSLEY, Newcastle's pounds 1.5m summer recruit from Everton, will undergo surgery this morning after suffering a fractured cheekbone in Ronnie Whelan's testimonial match at Anfield last night. He will be out for up to six weeks.

The former Liverpool and England forward was helped off following an accidental clash with Neil Ruddock in only the second minute of the match. Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle manager, confirmed that Beardsley had sustained a triple fracture and said he was 'desperately disappointed'.

To add irony to injury, Ruddock headed the only goal of the game 19 minutes later. Liverpool's Mike Hooper saved a 48th-minute John Beresford penalty.

Ruddock's close friend and former Southampton colleague Alan Shearer, who has not played a competitive fixture since January, yesterday set his sights on returning to the England side in next month's vital World Cup qualifying match against Poland at Wembley.

The pounds 3.3m striker, who sustained a serious knee injury after amassing 22 goals in the first half of last season, scored twice in an 11-minute comeback as substitute to help Blackburn beat Drogheda 3-0 on Sunday. He said later that if he was back in first-team action before the Poles' visit on 9 September, he hoped to receive the call from Graham Taylor.

While delighted, Kenny Dalglish, the Blackburn manager, said he would be 'surprised' if Shearer was in his team for Saturday's opening Premiership game, at Chelsea. 'People shouldn't jump the gun,' he added.

The news was mixed of three other potential members of Taylor's squad. Arsenal's Lee Dixon, who twisted an ankle in Saturday's Charity Shield, said his injury was not as bad as feared. While another right-back, Queen's Park Rangers' David Bardsley, reported that his Achilles tendon problems had worsened, the thigh injury sustained by John Barnes in Liverpool's friendly at Burnley looks unlikely to prevent his starting the season.

Ipswich yesterday agreed a pounds 750,000 fee for Oldham's striker- cum-stopper Ian Marshall and hope to field him against his former club on Saturday. Everton have decided against offering a contract to Alan McInally, the former Bayern Munich and Scotland centre-forward, who had been on trial at Goodison.

Sunderland's preparations for Saturday's First Division kick-off have been thrown into turmoil by a car crash on Sunday involving the club's four summer signings. Phil Gray, the striker bought from Luton, had to have glass surgically removed from an eye injury, while the former Birmingham midfielder Ian Rodgerson suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Neither the driver, Derek Ferguson, nor Andrew Melville was hurt, and manager Terry Butcher said: 'It's not anticipated that any of them will suffer long-term damage.' Sunderland hope to sign Alan Harper, the Everton defender, on a free transfer today.

A sign of the times at Old Trafford: Bryan Robson has been allocated the No 12 shirt in Manchester United's new squad numbers.