Goalkeeper Shay Given is unlikely to play for Newcastle again until next season, according to boss Kevin Keegan.

Keegan knows it would be foolish to give the Republic of Ireland international a run-out before the end of the campaign to prove he is over his long-standing groin problems.

Keegan said: "I think he'll be fit by the end of the season and he'll train with us for maybe the last week or 10 days but there's no sense for him to play a match.

"He just needs to know by the end of the season he's fit, ready to go away and come back fit for pre-season with all his problems behind him. I think that, for him, will be a massive relief."