ROVERS winger Keith Gillespie today paid a glowing tribute to Newcastle striker Alan Shearer - the man who once allegedly flattened him during a bar-room brawl.

Gillespie heads back to Tyneside for a reunion with his former United team-mate tomorrow.

And the Northern Ireland international insists the pair still share a laugh and a joke about the incident which made front-page news six years ago.

Newcastle's players went out on the town during a break in Dublin in 1997, a frolic that culminated in Phillipe Albert wearing a traffic cone on his head.

But the incident which sparked a media feeding frenzy was an alleged bust-up between Gillespie and Shearer.

According to David Batty, a team-mate of the pair at the time, Gillespie was flicking bottle tops at Shearer when a row suddenly erupted between them.

"Al was saying, 'Do that one more time and I'll give you a good hiding," recalled Batty, in his autobiography.

They then went outside and Batty suddenly saw a pair of legs in the air.

"We ran out to see Gillespie spark out in the gutter. There was blood everywhere. "Allegedly, Keith had taken a swing as the two made their way towards the rear of the pub and Al had turned around and decked him."

That incident had a damaging impact on Shearer's previously unblemished reputation but Gillespie is adamant the whole affair was blown wildly out of proportion and he insists the pair have remained good friends ever since.

"That's all forgotten about and we have a laugh about it now," said Gillespie.

"Every time I see him we have a joke about it. As everyone knows, the Press can sometimes build things up but there's not a problem.

"Straight away from the next day onwards there wasn't a problem and I guarantee that 100 per cent.

"I've got nothing but admiration for Alan Shearer.

"He's had a great season and retiring from the England scene has done wonders for him.

"He's had some bad injuries in his career but he's still mature enough to realise that playing for England is going to hamper him in the long run, in terms of his club football.

"And Newcastle have certainly reaped the benefits from his decision to retire this season through the goals he has scored."

Shearer poses the biggest threat to Rovers' hopes of pulling off another famous double tomorrow.

The former England captain, who grabbed his 300th career goal in United's 5-2 defeat at Ewood earlier this season, has set the standards once again on Tyneside by finding the net an impressive 24 times this term.

And, after deciding against a return to the international fold earlier this week, he is now ploughing all his energies into transforming Newcastle into the champions of England for the first time since 1927.

Last week's impressive away victory at Charlton saw them close the gap on Arsenal to five points with eight games still to play.

It's a throw-back to the days when United were challenging for the title under Kevin Keegan.

And Gillespie admits he can see certain parallels between Bobby Robson's current side and the one he used to play in six years ago.

"It's hard to compare the two in a way because I'm not involved with the current team," said the Rovers star.

"But I obviously played under Kevin Keegan and we were regarded as a cavalier team who were great to watch, and the same sort of thing seems to have happened again this season.

"Defensively, they've leaked quite a few goals. When they came to Ewood, for instance, we scored five against them, although they were slightly unfortunate in getting a man sent off so early.

"But, generally speaking, they seem to have improved on their away record this season.

"They've picked up a lot of points like they did in last week's game at Charlton.

"Before, they might have lost at a place like that but they are picking up points on their travels now and that's the key to it."

Ultimately, the underlying reason behind their title charge remains their home form, however.

Only Leeds have managed a victory in the Premiership at St James' this season but Rovers will not be intimidated by the hot reception awaiting them as they look to extend a formidable record of their own.

"It's going to be very, very difficult because they've got a great home record," said Gillespie.

"It's always a tough place to go at the best of times because their fans are so passionate.

"When I was there it almost felt like having an extra man when that crowd got behind you.

"They just believe they are going to win every game so it's going to be hard but we've got to be confident.

"We've just beaten Chelsea away and Arsenal at home.

"We've also won four games on the trot and it's been a while since Blackburn last did that.

"So we've done well but we realise we've still got a long way to go."