KEVIN KEEGAN has made his first moves to strengthen his defence by making an official enquiry for Manchester City defender Richard Dunne.

Less than 24 hours after learning he had lost out to Tottenham in the race to sign creative Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, Keegan's St James' Park recruitment team have contacted City in the hope of bolstering his defensive ranks this summer.

Dunne - likely to cost around £5m - is still no closer to signing a new contract at Eastlands and the Newcastle boss is hopeful he can strike a deal for the Ireland international.

Sven-Goran Eriksson is determined to retain the services of the 28-year-old but, with just 14 months remaining on his contract, City could be forced to cash in at the end of the season.

And Keegan, who worked with the centre-back during his four years in charge of City between 2001 and 2005, views Dunne's uncompromising style as the perfect addition to his backline.

The Magpies chief claimed on Friday that ideally he was looking for players with Premier League experience and, after Saturday's 2-2 draw at West Ham, he admitted that approaches for potential signings were on the agenda.

"We'll be in there pitching for some very good players," said Keegan. "If you don't bowl, you can't knock the wickets down.

We might get hit for six, but we might get a wicket.

"We'll get the targets we want hopefully. I'm sure if we had three top class players to what we've got and a couple of good youngsters we can look forward to a lot more in front of our fans next year."