To a chorus of sighs from St James' Park, Sam Allardyce continued his verbal sparring with Newcastle United yesterday, accusing his former employers of making excuses for their predicament. While those working at the club are focusing on more substantive matters, the erstwhile manager has bristled at reports that his fitness methods were unsuccessful.

That suggestion was raised by Damien Duff last week. In an interview at Newcastle's training ground, the winger made the unprovoked assertion that practice sessions had become more intense since Kevin Keegan's appointment. “I know Big Sam used to say that we were the fittest around, but I think we were far from it,” Duff said. “I don't think we were the fittest when the new gaffer came in.”

Keegan declined to tread a similar path, beyond saying that his predecessor was perhaps “coming from a different angle”. He pointed out that “my way is for players to train quite hard” and made the observation that a lack of confidence was palpable on Tyneside. “If Duff thinks the training is harder, then wait until pre-season,” the manager said.

However, Allardyce, who was dismissed in January, has interpreted those words as criticism of his working practices. “There was nothing wrong with the match fitness when I was there, so I think that's a little bit of an excuse,” he said. “Sometimes fitness is a mental thing and I think mental fatigue can hit the players more than anything else.

“That's when it looks like they're not trying or running as much as they possibly can do, because of the fear factor, and that can drain an awful lot out of the players. With the lack of confidence, like Kevin said, I think it can boil down to that, not a lack of match fitness.”

Allardyce, who hopes to return to management “in the summer”, does not believe that Newcastle will be relegated. “They've got a good squad when everybody's fit, they've got experienced and talented players, but they must get a result pretty soon,” he said.

Allardyce spoke about the difficulties of “living up to the expectations of the fans” and said that Keegan “has got to rely on his big players”. Allardyce's opinions did not draw a response from Newcastle - after an earlier outburst directed towards Mike Ashley, the club's billionaire owner, Chris Mort, the chairman, said that he “would rather look forward than dwell on the direction in which Sam took this club” - who spent yesterday finalising the first senior transfer of the Keegan era.

Pending a medical, Lamine Diatta, the Senegal defender, will become a Newcastle player, with the 32-year-old expected to sign a short-term contract with the club. Diatta is a free agent after buying out his contract at Besiktas, the Turkish club - he also has a wealth of experience in French football - and will line up alongside Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye, his international team-mates.

There is little doubting that Newcastle, who allowed David Rozehnal, the centre half, to join Lazio on loan during the January transfer window, require all the assistance they can muster. “Yes, we are in trouble,” Shay Given, the Ireland goalkeeper, said. “But so, too, are a lot of other clubs, from Middlesbrough [who are twelfth] down in the Premier League.

“Nobody is too big to go down, but I am confident with what I saw against Blackburn on Saturday and from the spirit in the dressing-room that we will be OK. Everybody is talking about our need to win those home games against Reading, Fulham and Sunderland, but don't be surprised if we pick up something on the road in our next two away games, at Liverpool and Birmingham City. We still have a lot of quality players in our squad and, on our day, we are capable of beating almost anyone.”