Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan admits the club 'could do a Leeds' if they don't start winning soon.

He told the Sunday Sun: "If we start thinking we've got a divine right to be in this division, then we are in trouble," insisted Keegan. "No one has got a divine right to be in this division. Look at Leeds.

''We've got to earn the right to be in this division."

Keegan himself spared Newcastle the ignominy of relegation from the old Division Two in 1992, but cites more recent examples of the perils of dropping out of the Premier League.

"The repercussions for us would have been bad when we could have gone into the Third Division," he reflected.

"It would have been a disaster, but Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City have all done it since.

"Not being in the Premier League next season would be bad in itself too. But we turned it around last time, which is why I believe we can do it again."