Nicky Butt believes his side's goalless draw at Portsmouth proves Newcastle are continuing to improve under Kevin Keegan.The resurgent Magpies failed to record their fourth straight Barclays Premier League win but are now unbeaten in five games.

"It's very important," man of the match Butt said of keeping the run going.

"It's a hard place to come against a team that are on a high. It wasn't a classic game but we came away with a draw."

Asked what had changed in recent weeks, Butt said on Setanta Sports 1: "It's confidence.

"If you get confidence, you can do things you don't normally do."

Butt credited Keegan with instilling this attitude, and added "He told us to go out and enjoy ourselves, play football and don't be afraid and we're doing that at the minute."

Portsmouth goalkeeper David James rued a missed opportunity to profit on Everton's draw at Birmingham in the race for European qualification.

He said: "With Everton dropping two points today, it's a great chance to win the game and we haven't.

"They may have had the better chances in the game.

"Unfortunately we didn't create the chances at the other end.

"We got a point, which is not the worst scenario but we were looking to win today."

James does not want to rely upon winning next month's FA Cup final to secure European football for next season.

"If we can do it in the league, we won't have to worry about qualification - just go on and win the cup," he added.

"We've got four or five games left and we want four or five wins."

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan believes a draw was a fair result but was surprised the game finished goalless.

"I think both Harry (Redknapp) and myself will look at it probably the same: could've won it, could've lost it," he said.

"If we're honest, on the day a draw was right, but a 0-0 draw, I'm not sure.

"There were an awful lot of chances, but a combination of good goalkeeping and players being over-hasty, they were missed and it's a 0-0."

The best chance of the match arguably fell to Michael Owen but the striker was thwarted by James, who did not know much about the point-blank save.

Keegan joked: "David James has had such a season, I think he could save it with his cap at the moment."

He added: "I don't think I can come here and say we deserved to win but we certainly deserved at least a draw.

"I thought everyone tried hard.

"They're a big, strong, physical side.

"People aren't scoring much against them. I'm pleased with the performance."

Opposite number Redknapp was not too disappointed with the result, admitting he would much rather win the FA Cup than finish fifth in the league.

"Whatever happens, we'll finish as high as we can. We've got a cup final to look forward to so it doesn't get much better," he said.

"We've had a great week, we've had a great season."

Redknapp added: "If you said to me at the start of the week, win at Wembley, win at West Ham and take a point today, I would've been only too pleased.

"I just want to win the FA Cup - that's all that matters now to be perfectly truthful.

"If you said to me finish fifth or win the FA Cup, I want to win the cup."

On today's game, he said: "I thought the pitch was difficult and wasn't conducive to great football."

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