Kevin Keegan insists he is looking forward to holding talks with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley after confirming the pair will meet on Friday.The 57-year-old will head for London amid speculation that the relationship between the two men has hit problems in the wake of Keegan's admission on Monday that his side is unlikely to break into the Premier League's top four during his time at the helm.

Keegan made a statement before Thursday afternoon's pre-match press conference, which had been brought forward 24 hours, to pre-empt a tide of questions on the subject.

He said: "The reason we have fetched the press conference a day early is that I am going to London tomorrow to talk with Mike Ashley. That's a good thing and I will look forward to that.

"That's the only comment that really I am going to make on anything to do with that today because this is a pre-match conference for the game against Everton and that's all I'm going to talk about from now on.

"Any other questions, they'll save for another day and I will try on that day, whenever it is, to answer them as honestly as I can."

Speculation over Keegan's future is unlikely to be quelled by confirmation of Friday's meeting, but he was upbeat as he prepared for Sunday's game at Goodison Park while continuing to plan his summer rebuilding programme.

Meanwhile, the manager also confirmed that 32-year-old striker Mark Viduka, who was due to undergo an injection for a long-standing Achilles problem on Thursday, could be out of action for between three and six months.

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