Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan admits he needs to lift the quality in his squad if he is to keep his best players happy.

He said: "When I took over and looked at the fixtures, we only had one game away against the teams around us.

"Every game was against teams in the top half. We had to play the whole top four either home or away.

"I think the players have done marvellously to get together and sort it out.

"It was a challenge. The bigger the club, the bigger the scalp it is in this league.

"There will be players who will go home and reflect over the summer and think they could have had better seasons and contributed a bit more, and players who think they should have been given more chances.

"And there will be players who know they have given everything and just not had enough around them."