Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle United manager, admits he does not know how much money he will have to spend this summer.

The 57-year-old caused a major stir in the wake of yesterday's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea when he admitted he could not be given enough cash to close the gap on the Premier League's top four in the short term. That has been interpreted in some quarters as a challenge to Mike Ashley, the club's owner, to put his hand in his pocket, and while Keegan insists he will be backed by the owner and Chris Mort, the chairman, he is yet to be told what his budget might be.

He said: "I don't know, I have not been told. I don't know what is here if I am honest. That's not a problem. We will just have to wait and see. You really need to be talking to Chris Mort and whoever has just been appointed [Derek Llambias, the deputy chairman] or Dennis Wise about the finances for this football club.

"It's not my job and I have never been involved in it. That's the truth. I cannot help you on that other than saying my job is to ask [vice-president (player recruitment)] Tony Jimenez to go and get players.

"I give them a player and they go and try and get them for us. But I am saying that whatever finance will be there, it will not be enough to take us into the top four."

Ashley has ploughed in excess of £100 million into the club since completing his £134.4m takeover last year and Keegan hopes to be able to compete for some of Europe's most exciting players in the summer.

"With that comes a major responsibility, and that major responsibility is to be realistic with them and tell them I am not going to get enough money to make major changes at this football club," he said.

"I know that already. I do know that much. Major changes take massive finance, and it is not massive finance. If someone said there would be £40 million or £50 million, it still would not be enough to get you from where we are."

Keegan has already started to clear the decks for his summer spending drive and has revealed that experienced full-back Stephen Carr, Peter Ramage and Australian youngster James Troisi will all leave the club when they reach the end of their current contracts this summer.

Former Tottenham player Carr, 31, and 19-year-old Troisi were not offered new deals, while Ramage, 24, was, but decided his chances would be limited at St James' Park. Carr has been linked with Everton and West Ham United, while Ramage is thought to be a target for several Coca-Cola Championship clubs including Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Keegan said: "Peter Ramage is going to go and so is Stephen Carr. They are both going and they know that. We wanted to keep Rammy, but he wants to play regular football, and I couldn't guarantee him that here. He goes with our best wishes, as does Stephen Carr, who has been great pro for this club. He wasn't offered a contract, and I explained the reasons why.

"In another time and on another day, we would have, but I have explained it to him. He's going to go, but he has been an excellent pro while I have been here.

"James Troisi's also gone. He has gone to play for Australia in the Olympics, but he has not been offered a contract."

Meanwhile, Keegan has confirmed that striker Mark Viduka will not play in the final game of the season at Everton on Sunday, and will this week have a planned injection to address his Achilles problem.