Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan is refusing to allow persistent speculation over his reign get in the way of the quest for Premier League points.

A diplomatic silence has surrounded St James' Park this week with insiders insisting the rumours have little basis in fact, although there is a sense of unease on Tyneside with the club's wait for a league victory now stretching to 10 games, six of them under their new manager.

However, Keegan has poured scorn of the claims.

Asked if he was annoyed by repeated suggestions of unrest, he replied: "Not really. It is water off a duck's back, as far as I am concerned."

Keegan freely accepts that Newcastle will remain firmly in the spotlight for as long as they continue to under-achieve on the pitch, and that is a situation he is desperate to address this weekend.

He said: "Every club and every situation you find yourself in at a club is a big challenge.

"The last time when I came, we were second bottom of the division below; when I went to Manchester City, it was, 'Can you keep us in the same division? We have not been in the same division for five years. We have been up, down, up, down'.

. "When you get, as we did last time at this club, on the verge of maybe winning the title, there is still pressure there.

"But it is a much nicer pressure than being sucked into maybe something down at the bottom of the table.

"Blackburn will come here and the pressure on Mark Hughes to get three points is the same as on us, but for different reasons: they want to get into Europe, we want to get up the table."