EVERTON were last night losing patience with Duncan Ferguson over the Newcastle United striker's proposed £4m return to Goodison Park.

United yesterday cleared the way for Ferguson's departure by firing a pre-emptive parting shot at the injury-plagued Scot.

Ferguson was due to undergo a medical at Goodison yesterday lunchtime, but as the row rumbled on over his claim for a £1m pay-off from the Magpies, he failed to arrive.

Instead he trained with Newcastle at their Chester-le-Street base for what could be the last time.

Ferguson is understood to have contacted Everton asking for a further 24 hours to thrash out his cash wrangle with Newcastle.

But angry United chairman Freddy Shepherd appears to have called Ferguson's bluff by refusing to accede to his demands, knowing that any deadlock could jeopardise the 28-year-old's hopes of a move back to his old stamping ground.

Newcastle agreed to pay Everton £8m when Ferguson was forced to leave Merseyside 21 months ago.

Despite a catalogue of injuries which have restricted him to only 32 starts in that time, Everton boss Walter Smith, who didn't want to sell Ferguson in the first place, is ready to welcome him back into the fold.

But the feeling on Merseyside last night was that Smith is not prepared to wait indefinitely while Ferguson argues his case for a 'sweetener' from Newcastle as part of the £1.5m signing-on fee he negotiated when he joined them.

Ferguson looks to be wasting his time. A Newcastle insider yesterday stressed: "Freddy Shepherd and his board have refused to give an inch throughout all this. They feel that Ferguson has not given them value for money in his time here.

"They were determined that he would not get a penny to move, even if it meant him staying at St. James' Park to see out the rest of his contract.''

It now seems certain that Ferguson will have to waive his cash claim or risk the collapse of his move.

Meanwhile, Newcastle midfielder Gary Speed, who was also a teammate of Ferguson at Everton, is chasing a Premiership record.

Wales skipper Speed and Bradford's ex-Sheffield Wednesday defender Peter Atherton are in a race to become the first player to clock up 300 Premiership appearances.

Atherton is on 292, four more than Speed, who said: "It has occurred to me that I'm well up there in appearances.

"If I'm first to reach 300, that's great, but I won't lose any sleep over it. It's the same with my goals.

"I scored 13 last season and it was my best season ever, but I would be happy to swap any records for silverware. Forget individual records, all I'm interested in is the team doing well. If I score two or three goals in the new season, but Newcastle are near the top of the table, that'll do for me.''

l NEWCASTLE Reserves took their pre-season goal tally to 43 in nine games with a ruthless destruction of Blyth Spartans at Croft Park.

And former Darlington and Hartlepool striker James Coppinger took his personal total to 12 with a brilliant four-goal burst in a 9-0 win.

Coppinger began the rout after ten minutes and Brian Kerr and Diego Gavilan added two more in the next three minutes.

After 21 minutes Coppinger, sent clear by Stephen Glass, drilled home the fourth. Then a superb 25-yard chip by David McMahon made it five on 24 minutes.

But Coppinger bettered even that goal nine minutes before the interval lifting a rebound from his own shot over defender Justin Keegan then volleying the dropping ball into the top corner from 14 yards.

Blyth were completely overrun but held out for the first 24 minutes of the second before United stepped on the pedal again.

Scottish right-back Ryan McGuffie, making his Newcastle debut, took Gavilan's pass down the right and set up McMahon for a close range finish with a perfect low cross.

Coppinger grabbed his fourth and his side's eighth nine minutes from time after Terry Burke failed to hold a Stuart Green show. Then Des Hamilton half-volleyed the ninth three minutes later after another Gavilan-McGuffie link-up.

The only worry for United came when French full-back Didier Domi limped off early in the second half and youngster Green also twisted an ankle in the final minutes.

Newcastle: Karelse, McGuffie, Domi (Kerr 48), S Caldwell, G Caldwell, McClen (Hamilton 45), Gavilan, Kerr (Green 45), Coppinger, McMahon, Glass