HAVING come to terms with the physicality of the English game, Newcastle United defender Habib Beye has revealed how becoming a stronger player has helped him adjust to life in the Premier League.

The Senegal international last night revealed his surprise at just how robust the English top flight was compared with France following his £2m move from Marseille in August last year.

But with the help of Newcastle United fitness coach Adrian Lamb, Beye has been able to toughen up and now the 30-year-old is finding the demands of the Premier League easier to deal with.

The full-back has been one of Newcastle's best performers during their recent revival, which sees Kevin Keegan's men go into the Bank Holiday Monday clash with Chelsea unbeaten in seven.

"Here in England it is tougher," admitted Beye. "If you see the games in the Champions League between Chelsea and Liverpool you see how tough it is.

"You think you are strong when you come to England but you need to work. I work on it all the time to get stronger. And that has helped it become easier for me.

"I like the physical side but I have worked very hard with Lamby (Adrian Lamb) the fitness coach.

"When you come to England you need to have good body fitness. You need to be strong.

"People in France talk about the game, about why English teams are doing so well in Europe. It is about intensity."

Prior to his move to Tyneside, Beye had made almost 200 appearances in the French top flight (Ligue 1) with Strasbourg and Marseille, having started his career at Paris Saint Germain, without making a single appearance for his hometown club.

However, the right-back has no regrets about swapping the Stade Velodrome for St James' Park after revealing the excitement of Ligue 1 is nothing compared with that of the Premier League.

He said: "I have enjoyed myself here. In France it is more tactical with 1-1 and 1-0 scorelines. It is not very exciting for the fans but when you come to England you see 4-4, 5-4.

"Even last Saturday to come back from two down to draw 2-2. For me it is very spectacular and I am enjoying myself.

"I have now got used to the Premier League. I know the guys who play with me and I like the physical aspect because that is my game.

"I imagined it would be like that but when you play in the Africa Nations, you have some big games and when you compare it with England, it is the same, there is so much intensity here."

Beye has been impressed with the way Kevin Keegan has eventually turned things around on Tyneside. A six-match unbeaten run appeared to be coming to a disappointing conclusion at West Ham United at the weekend, before goals from Obafemi Martins and Geremi rescued a point for Keegan's men.

Asked whether the Newcastle boss has inspired the renewed character shown in the team as they demonstrated at Upton Park last Saturday, Beye said: "Yes, for sure. We would have lost this game (at West Ham) a few months ago. Now it is different.

"That says everything about Kevin's team. We didn't play well against Sunderland and still won and it was the same against West Ham.

"The first 20 minutes wasn't great but then we responded. It was great to get a good result at West Ham because it sets us up for a massive game against Chelsea.

"You need plenty of character for big games like Chelsea."

Meanwhile midfielder Nick Butt will be walking a disciplinary tightrope when the Blues arrive at St James' Park on Monday.

The 33-year-old will go into the clash on 14 bookings, meaning one more caution will result in the former Manchester United midfielder missing the first three games of next season.

Butt will be hoping to do his old United team-mates a favour by ending Chelsea's hopes of landing the Premier League title on Monday.

And despite the threat of suspension looming, Keegan believes it is inevitable that Butt, because of the nature of his game, will pick up bookings.

''I will have a chat with Nicky about it all, but my feeling is that he is a vital player for us," said Keegan.

''Nicky is always the sort of player who is going to get booked because he is so competitive and he goes in there and tries to win challenges. He has got to handle that.

''When you are doing as many tackles as he does over 90-odd minutes, you are going to mis-time some.'