Allardyce keen to keep Dyer

The Newcastle manager, increasingly frustrated by his failure to land new signings, wants to find out if Dyer would be interested in a switch to Upton Park.

But Allardyce also insisted last night that the London club have not approached him about England international Dyer

He said: "There has been no bid from West Ham and we've had no contact from either Alan Curbishley or their chief executive.

"We haven't heard a thing from them, so I don't know if there is anything in the reports that they are interested in signing Kieron.

"If we are going to hear from them, I would assume it's going to be this weekend. If we get a bid, we will take it from there, but I'm not particularly keen to lose Kieron.

"He is a player who is an integral part of my plans but, like everything else, I will need to have a chat with him to see if he thinks there is anything in a move to West Ham. If there is, we will discuss it privately.

"I think Kieron has had his unhappy days here which he will never forget and for which he will never forgive some people for.

"When you're somewhere for nine years, you have your good times and your bad times and you remember the bad times as much as you remember the good.

"I don't know if he is unhappy here or whether the speculation about West Ham has had any effect.

"I will have a talk with him next week and see where we stand, but would take a very sizeable offer to even tempt me to let him go."

On the transfer front Allardyce has hit another brick wall in his attempt to strengthen his squad this week. He said: "Unfortunately everything this week has progressed to a certain level, then fallen on stony ground.

"We've not been able to bring in anyone for a medical and it's been an incredibly frustrating two weeks in terms of bringing players in."

Dyer is likely to be in action in today's friendly at Carlisle United, but Michael Owen has been ruled out with a thigh strain that is also expected to keep him out Thursday's match against Celtic.

Geremi will make his debut after moving from Chelsea and James Milner will also play his first game of the pre-season.

New signing David Rozehnal, meanwhile, revealed yesterday how Michael Owen is giving him a tough introduction to English football.

Owen has already provided the Czech international with a hint of what awaits him in the Premier League this season.

Rozehnal said: "The training is harder and the tempo is higher than I'm used to and it's not just Michael - there's also Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi. All the players are strong and fast."

However, those sessions are only convincing the former Paris St Germain player made the right decision when he moved to Newcastle.

He was tempted by the pace and passion of a league that he regularly views on television and his first experience of life at Newcastle suggests the Premier League will live up to his expectations.

The Czech international said: "I hope I've made a good decision to come here. I was always interested in Newcastle, who are like Paris St Germain - both are clubs with big names and a big history.

"It will be a challenge for me, that's for sure, so it's up to me to show everybody that I can play Premier League football and can be a good player in my position.

"I feel really good if a little bit tired, but I'm very happy with what I've seen here and what we've done in the last few weeks.

"We did some very good preparation in Austria and I feel very happy about the team and the staff. Everybody has been good and friendly."

Rozehnal can play anywhere at the back, but revealed yesterday: "My favourite position is as a striker!

"I used to be a striker, but it was a long, long time ago. Now I'm a centre-back and I don't care if I play on the left or the right."

Rozehnal, who has followed another Czech international Pavel Srnicek to Newcastle, said: "I don't know him personally, but I know he's a really good guy and a good goalkeeper.

"I heard he spent a lot of good times here and wore a tee-shirt that said Pavel is a Geordie.

"David is a Geordie - why not?