Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan says there's no reason why Shola Ameobi cannot make as big an impact as Arsenal's new strike-sensation Manu Adebayor.

KK told the Evening Chronicle: "If you look at Adebayor, what I would say to Shola Ameobi is what I saw of Adebayor a year and a half ago is what I saw of Ameobi when he first came on to the scene.

"That guy has kicked on and Shola has had injuries and other little problems, I guess, but he is 26 now and I don't think it is too late for him.

"Everywhere you go, when you see a performance like that, you can say to a player, 'He is a similar size to you. Has he more ability than you?'.

"Well, it would look so at the moment but, truthfully, Shola has a lot of stuff packaged there that has not quite come out properly yet.

"People might say Alan Shearer was dominating when he was here - of course he was, so was Thierry Henry, but Adebayor has gone straight in and filled his boots.

"That is not easy, that is almost as difficult as filling Alan's here."