Newcastle United rushed out a video entitled Howay 5-Oh! to commemorate Kevin Keegan’s last, jaw-dropping confrontation with Manchester United as the team’s manager. The mood in the build-up to this weekend’s rematch at St James’ Park is vastly different, although it would take a good detective to work out where solace will come from.

Saturday’s fixture will rekindle memories of Newcastle’s glorious, doomed pursuit of the title in 1996, Keegan’s televised “I’d love it” rant at Sir Alex Ferguson and a redemptive 5-0 victory the following October. Most likely, it will illustrate the gulf now separating the clubs; with one online bookmaker last night offering odds of 750-1 on Newcastle mustering a repeat of that infamous scoreline.

Keegan has been appointed with the express purpose of competing with Ferguson’s side, but it is clear that the remainder of this season offers a more rudimentary challenge. With no wins in their past nine league matches, securing their status in the Barclays Premier League is Newcastle’s immediate priority, followed by restoring credibility and building momentum.

While there have been reports that Mike Ashley is actively seeking to sell the club he purchased last summer, the message emanating from Gallow-gate is that Newcastle’s billionaire owner is committed to seeing how far Keegan can take the team. What is undeniable, however, is that with an important close-season approaching, the project requires a jump-start.

Somehow, Keegan must reach his players, whose position of thirteenth in the table may be an accurate reflection of their consistently mediocre performances, but is not indicative of a small squad’s ability. Sharp motivation is required, as well as an overriding sense that the loss will be theirs should they fall by the wayside during Keegan’s leadership.

That process has begun. “I’ve said to the players, ‘There’s no one nailing down much in terms of the first team,’ ” Keegan said. “Usually you have seven, eight or nine who are definite regulars, but that’s an incentive for everyone at the club to get into the team. They can see they have got a good chance and that includes the young players. All these young guys have got a future here and it’s down to them as much as it is to us.”

Yet no established signings were made during the transfer window – Fabio Zamblera, Ole Söderberg, Tamas Kadar, Ben Tozer and Wesley Ngo Baheng all arrived last month, but with the primary aim of bolstering a neglected youth set-up – and while Obafemi Martins, Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye and Gérémi have all now returned from the African Cup of Nations in Ghana, recovery must come from within.

Inactive since their harrowing 4-1 defeat at Villa Park on February 9, Keegan has elected to work assiduously with his players rather than seek winter sunshine. “We have had a little bit of a break and we have worked the players a little bit harder,” he said.

“We gave them a couple of days off, but they are back now and fresh – and we know what is ahead of us on Saturday. I have been pleased and we are building up to what is a very big game for us.”

His more recent record against United includes two fine victories – 3-1 and 4-1 – while at Manchester City, their nearest rivals. “I don’t know what my record is like against Sir Alex, but I don’t think it is as bad as some managers,” Keegan said. “I’m sure it is not the worst. They have got the form and we have not, so we will see if we can surprise a few people.”

Anything more productive than defeat would run counter to expectation, but Newcastle will at least have freshness on their side. “Two weeks without a game has been a long time and the last game against Aston Villa was not a good performance,” Keegan said. “Man United will have had two [more] games by the time they play us, so we have little things going for us.”