BRETT Emerton believes the battle of the giants could prove key at St James’ Park tonight as he looks to preserve his remarkable away record against Newcastle United.

Rovers’ Australian midfielder has won his last four matches at St James’, losing just once in seven career visits, but knows in-form striker Andy Carroll poses a very real threat to Rovers’ dominance in the north east.

Carroll’s exploits this season have seen him emerge as a serious contender for a senior England call-up, with his six goals helping the Magpies to a lofty position in the table after three straight wins in the Premier League.

Emerton though believes Rovers have the ready-made answer to cope with the obvious physical threat carried by Carroll, claiming skipper Chris Samba will be more than up for the battle.

He said: “Our answer is going to be big Chris Samba. He is very good in the air and can match him in that respect. Andy Carroll has also shown this season he is good with the ball at his feet. He will be difficult to stop.

“Chris has shown he can mix it with the best of them. He won’t fear Andy Carroll in any way and will be looking forward to the challenge.

“I am glad he is on my team. He does a good job at the back and is a major threat in the opposition box.

“I rate Chris very highly. You don’t see many strikers getting the better of him. It will be an interesting match up and I am looking forward to watching it myself.”

Carroll’s rise to prominence this season has not surprised his former Newcastle boss Allardyce, who knows from first hand experience how dangerous the 21-year-old will prove to be.

Allardyce insists Carroll’s potential was obvious during his own short managerial stint with the Magpies, admitting he is in the top three in terms of Premier League strikers with an aerial prowess.

“Andy will look at it as another centre half he is going to try and dominate,” said Allardyce. “I don’t think Andy has any fear playing against anybody.

“I think he played a part in my last game for Newcastle at Stoke away. He almost won us the game that day. We always saw the potential in Andy and that potential is now being realised.

“He is brave, he is fearless. He won’t have any doubts about playing against anyone at this level because this is where he wants to be. He has proved he is a real handful.

“Him, Kenwyne Jones and Kevin Davies are the three big threats in terms of aerial domination in this league and that makes life very difficult for defenders in the Premier League.

“We have to stop the supply. The best thing in life is to stop the source of the danger, that has to be the first thing we do. Sometimes you just can’t deal with it. Sometimes the brilliance of the player and the ball in means you can’t stop it.”

Emerton and Rovers will travel to the north east full of confidence this evening, despite just one away win so far this season.

The Aussie’s only ever defeat at St James’ came in 2004 with Rovers holding the upper hand throughout the decade.

Emerton, said: “Last season our home form was very good and it has started okay this season but we need to improve on our away form if we want to propel ourselves into the top half of the season and finish there.

“A fantastic result for them last weekend. To win away at Arsenal is special so they are going to be full of confidence and their fans are going to be right behind them.

“I have had a lot of positive results against Newcastle in my time though. Throughout my entire career, even when I was at Feyenoord we beat them, so I have had some good results and hopefully we can have another tonight.

“Every player enjoys playing at Newcastle because it is such a good atmosphere, on the other hand, if things aren’t going well the fans can get on their back.”

The weekend’s 2-1 win over Wigan halted a four-match winless run for Rovers and moved them out of the relegation zone - a position they moved into with a defeat at home to Chelsea.

Emerton said: “It was an important win, it takes us out of the bottom three and eases the pressure a little bit. It is still a massive week though with two very tough away games.

“Our away performances have improved this season, we have been in each and every game with a chance of either getting a draw or winning in every one.

“We have been creating quite a few chances but we need to improve in front of goal and that is every player throughout the team. We have been trying to work on it.”