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Williamson wary of Wolves threat Newcastle defender Mike Williamson will not allow himself to relax when Wolves arrive on Tyneside this weekend.

The 28-year-old has found himself pitched into battle with some of the Barclays Premier League's most prolific frontmen since he returned from a prolonged injury lay-off on Boxing Day.

Williamson and his defensive colleagues have had to deal with the likes of Craig Bellamy, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Clint Dempsey and Darren Bent, and in their last outing at Tottenham, a fortnight ago, found themselves on the wrong end of a mauling by Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor.

On Saturday afternoon, they will be pitched into battle with a Wolves strike-force which has been unable to fire the club out of relegation trouble.

However, former Portsmouth centre-half Williamson knows just how dangerous it would be to underestimate the likes of Steven Fletcher, Kevin Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

"I pay no attention to the form guide or where they are in the league," he said.

"There are world-class players in every team and you take your eye off the ball and you are going to be punished, it's as simple as that.

"That's why for me, there are no foregone conclusions in this league.

"You have to prepare and play as well as you can, and keep to the standards you have set in previous weeks." Newcastle have rarely allowed those standards to slip with spectacular defeats at Fulham and Spurs, in which they conceded five times on both occasions, representing painful blips in an otherwise creditable run of form.

Manager Alan Pardew admitted in the wake of the 5-0 defeat at White Hart Lane a fortnight ago that he was in part responsible after fielding an attacking line-up, but, like his players, he will dust himself down and go again.

Pardew said: "It's important as a player, if you make a mistake on the pitch, that you hold your hands up and you say, 'I got that wrong'.

"If you are the manager and you put a team out that didn't function, then you also put your hand up, and I take some responsibility for that Spurs game, no problem." The return of Cheick Tiote from African Nations Cup duty with Ivory Coast and central midfield partner Yohan Cabaye from a three-match ban will certainly not harm Newcastle's cause as they attempt to maintain pace with fourth-placed Arsenal and Chelsea in fifth, both of whom head the Magpies by a single point.

Wolves owner Steve Morgan has challenged caretaker boss Terry Connor to stake a claim for the job on a permanent basis after being appointed for the remainder of the season.

Connor will be in charge for the final 13 matches - starting with the encounter at St James' Park - and given the task of keeping second from bottom Wolves in the Barclays Premier League.

The midlands club have come in for criticism after failing to land an established manager as the sacked Mick McCarthy's replacement.

But Morgan has faith in Connor, who has been at Molineux for 13 years, to plug the gap left by McCarthy after his contract was terminated 11 days ago.

He said: "We believe we have made the right decision. Certainly the players' reaction has been incredibly good and we look forward to Terry taking the club from now until the end of the season.

"We have seen a number of people, we have narrowed it down and it became clear with the way the players were responding to Terry that he was the right person to take us forward.

"At the moment it's an interim appointment but he's got a chance to stake a claim. We've got 13 cup finals left. We're actually fed up of relegation battles but that's what we've got on our hands now." Midfielder Karl Henry is available after a three-match suspension for his red card against Aston Villa.

Winger Michael Kightly is also back in contention having sufferd a back injury in the same game nearly four weeks ago.

Newcastle vs Wolverhampton

Last modified 18:17 25/02/12

Doyle helps Connor prove point Kevin Doyle handed caretaker boss Terry Connor a point in his first game as Wolves pulled off an unlikely comeback to draw 2-2 at Newcastle.

The visitors, who sacked Mick McCarthy in the wake of the derby drubbing by West Brom, looked dead and buried after Papiss Cisse and then Jonas Gutierrez had fired the Magpies into a 2-0 lead with just 18 minutes played.

However, after Matt Jarvis had dragged the visitors back into the game five minutes into the second half, Doyle struck with 66 minutes gone to snatch a draw which dented Newcastle's top four hopes.

Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey produced a fine save to deny Cisse, but after the ball was scrambled clear, Cheick Tiote returned it with interest and Cisse turned his shot home.

The keeper kept Newcastle at bay with 17 minutes gone when he tipped Danny Simpson's searing drive over the bar, but he was beaten again within seconds. Doyle's clearing header dropped to Gutierrez 25 yards out, and the Argentinian took a controlling touch before rifling a shot into the top corner.

Wolves were able to create little of note, although Tim Krul did have to come quickly from his line to prevent Jarvis from picking up the pieces after Doyle's 36th-minute effort had been blocked.

The mood changed markedly within five minutes of the restart as Wolves pulled one back, Jarvis cutting inside from the left and firing in a shot which clipped full-back Simpson and looped high over Krul and in.

Cabaye dragged a shot just wide from 20 yards, and Wolves full-back Stephen Ward cut inside to test Krul with a skidding shot.