Keegan hoping misery will end

KEVIN KEEGAN has admitted that another month of misery for Manchester City will leave him seriously worried.

Keegan, who confirmed that Portsmouth had lodged an official bid for out-of-favour midfield man Eyal Berkovic, sends his team into battle against Charlton tonight looking to arrest an horrific run of 12 matches without a win.

From a position of promise in the Premiership, City have plunged into the bottom half of the table, tumbled out of two cup competitions and required a second-half Nicolas Anelka equaliser to grasp an FA Cup replay at Leicester.

It is not what Keegan, the Blues board or their faithful fans expected at the start of the campaign and with matches against Premiership makeweights Portsmouth and Blackburn to follow Charlton's visit the consequences of not halting the slide could be enormous.

"This month, as always, there are two or three managers who are under pressure because their results are not good enough and I am one of them," admitted the former England boss. Keegan is due to meet chairman John Wardle tomorrow to discuss the cash available for investment in the January transfer window.

Although Wardle is steadfast in his conviction that Keegan is the right man for the City hot-seat, the chat would be far easier with an eagerly-awaited three points in the bag.

Keegan is hopeful that any money from the sale of Berkovic will go into his transfer kitty. The little Israeli has clearly been deemed an expendable asset, despite his impressive form last season.

City are hoping to receive £750,000 for the 31-year-old, who could be set to join up with his former West Ham boss Harry Redknapp at Fratton Park.

"There is an offer from Portsmouth that is being discussed and Eyal knows what is going on," he said. "It may or may not go ahead, it's just a question of whether anything can be sorted out."

Berkovic's massive wages remain a potential stumbling block but it is clear the 31-year-old, who Keegan signed from Celtic for £1.5m two years ago, has no future at City.

He will again be absent from Keegan's squad tonight even though there is a playmaking vacancy in the absence of hamstring injury victim Steve McManaman.

Antoine Sibierski is the favourite to fill the role, although Trevor Sinclair and Joey Barton are also looking for a chance to impress after substitute appearances against Leicester.

German defender Michael Tarnat is also expected to return from his recent back complaint in place of Sun Jihai as Keegan maintains his current policy of operating with five in midfield.

It is more like the performance his team produced in their stirring draw with Liverpool than the below-average display against Leicester that Keegan will be looking for against a Charlton side whose shock FA Cup exit at Gillingham belied their fourth-place Premiership berth.

Charlton will call on Scott Parker to help them bounce back quickly from their demoralising FA Cup exit at Gillingham. The England midfielder missed the 3-2 third-round defeat at the Priestfield Stadium with a bruised ankle.

But he is back in training and should return to the starting line-up. Defender Luke Young is also fit after an ankle injury but Shaun Bartlett (ankle), Richard Rufus and Gary Rowett (both knee) and Kevin Lisbie (back) are all missing.