Newcastle United boss Joe Kinnear is confident of securing all four of his off contract stars to new deals.

Kinnear said: "Mike (Ashley) is well in touch. I know he has been travelling all over the world through his business, but he has been coming on conference calls on a regular basis.

"He is quite happy. He himself wants everybody to sign, and he is going out of his way to do the best he possibly can financially to sign all four players.

"I would be disappointed if we don't sign all four players. I am pretty certain we will get three of them.

"Michael (Owen) will probably take a few more days, but (Nicky) Butt, (Steve) Harper and Shola (Ameobi), I think, will be signing in the next 24 hours."