Newcastle's England striker Alan Shearer will grab the unwanted headlines from a drab 0-0 Premiership encounter at Filbert Street, after appearing to kick Leicester midfielder Neil Lennon in the face in a touch-line bust-up.

Shearer seemed to react angrily at being challenged by the Northern Ireland international in the 58th minute, before kicking out in his opponent's direction.

It left the former Crewe player lying in a heap and needing treatment - but referee Martin Bodenham took no action apart from awarding a throw-in to Newcastle.

Leicester manager Martin O'Neill, meanwhile, blew his top at the linesman for not drawing Bodenham's attention to the Shearer episode.

Apart from the Shearer-Lennon flare-up in a game which saw tempers become increasingly frayed, there was little to get excited about, with only two saves worthy of the name in the whole 90 minutes.

Newcastle's Shay Given did well to keep out an Emile Heskey header, and City's Kasey Keller was alert enough to deny a dipping volley from Robert Lee.

The Magpies will be happiest with a point to inch them nearer to safety and four points clear of third-from-bottom Bolton.

Kenny Dalglish's men showed more enterprise than in many away games in this troubled season, and Lee was in fine form in the centre of the park.

But the draw is a massive blow to Leicester's UEFA Cup hopes, which are now looking increasingly remote.

Newcastle boss Dalglish made three changes from the side beaten 2-0 at Tottenham on Saturday, with Lee, Steve Howey and Temuri Ketsbaia back in the starting line-up.

Leicester captain Steve Walsh blocked a close-range shot from Howey, and Gary Speed gained a fortunate rebound off Matt Elliott but drilled his effort over the bar when well placed.

The home side took time to find their touch but gradually upped the tempo towards half-time.

Theo Zagorakis sent a dipping, 25-yard shot wide, and then Steve Guppy's left-footed effort looked to be heading for the far corner of the net before it took a deflection off Warren Barton.

The normally impressive Nikolaos Dabizas had one of his shakier games for the visitors and in the 41st minute he was booked for hauling down Heskey, with Speed also cautioned on the stroke of half-time for fouling Zagorakis.

After the Shearer incident, Leicester thought they had broken the deadlock when Guppy's cross picked out Heskey only for Given to go full length and parry the header.

Then came Keller's fine save to keep out the fierce volley from Lee.

But there was little more posed in the way of a threat at either end - and the whistle went with the name of Shearer on everyone's lips.

Teams

Leicester: Keller, Savage, Guppy, Walsh, Elliott, Kaamark, Izzet, Lennon, Zagorakis (Ullathorne 78), Marshall (Cottee 82), Heskey.

Subs Not Used: Fenton, Wilson, Arphexad.

Booked: Lennon.

Newcastle: Given, Barton, Batty, Howey, Lee, Shearer, Speed, Pearce, Ketsbaia, Pistone, Dabizas.

Subs Not Used: Hislop, Barnes, Watson, Hamilton, Andersson.

Booked: Dabizas, Speed, Barton.

Att: 21,699

Ref: M J Bodenham (East Looe).