Keegan confident of survival despite Newcastle's miserable run

Soccerway - 9 March 2008 07:21

Kevin Keegan uttered the words all Newcastle fans should dread after his side slipped closer to the Premier League relegation zone.

Keegan could be forgiven for fearing the worst after watching his struggling side slump to 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday which left them just three points above the bottom three.

But, despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Newcastle manager insists his team have too much quality to go down.

However, that dubious claim has been made by managers at the likes of Leeds, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest in the past and those three sides all crashed out of the Premier League.

Now Newcastle, who have only 28 points, are in danger of following suit unless Keegan can find a way to halt his team's woeful run of 12 matches without a win in the league.

Keegan, who is still waiting for his first Newcastle victory after eight matches in charge in his second spell as boss, believes 40 points will be enough to keep them up.

"Our players are a tight-knit group and we all believe we have the ability and quality to stay in this division," Keegan said.

"We are very confident of that. You need 40 points to stay up and we need four wins to do that. We will do it.

"Their first goal was a freak and maybe we needed something like that rather than them. That's what happens when you are struggling.

"From then on it was always going to be tough, two down to Liverpool at Anfield means they can relax and play their football."

Next Monday's crucial clash at fellow strugglers Birmingham could represent the defining moment in Newcastle's season.

Defeat at St Andrews' would be a huge blow to their survival hopes and would surely start alarm bells ringing in the Newcastle boardroom.