Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan says now is not the time to blood any of Adam Sadler's top kids.

"Kadar, the lad Fabio . . . they're not anywhere near the first team this year," Keegan told the Sunday Sun. "They weren't brought in for that. They have done well in the reserves or whatever, but that's a million miles from the Premier League.

"These are 17-18 year old kids, you'd be reluctant to put any youngsters too close to this.

"We've got Andy Carroll in the squad at the moment. We've got one or two others who have done quite well and they've been to see me and I've just said: 'Hey, I won't involve you in this.'

"If this was pre-season, I'd have had a look at Kadar, had a look at Fabio - even though he's a long way off - had a better look at Andy Carroll and I'd have looked at the young goalkeeper (Fraser Forster) by now.

"But now, it's about guys who know the league; about guys who've got the experience.

"And we've got plenty of those, to be fair."