NEWCASTLE UNITED will not consider granting any Birmingham City wish to send back out-of-sorts midfielder Nicky Butt to Tyneside - regardless of how bad his situation gets at St Andrews.

The Magpies are already preparing for the return of the former Manchester United star in the summer, and that will do little to help ease the club's excessive wage bill.

There had been hopes from Newcastle's end that Butt - someone whose fall from grace since starring in the 2002 World Cup has been pretty incredible - would secure a permanent move to the Blues.

However the 31-year-old's refusal to stay and watch Birmingham's game at West Ham on Monday after being left out of an injury-hit squad of 16, has written off the chances of that happening.

Butt yesterday issued the grovelling apology demanded from furious manager Steve Bruce - someone who is ironically one of the names in the frame to take over at Newcastle - and then made it public.

"Having been informed that I was not to be a part of the West Ham game, I made a decision that I regret, a decision that was made on the spur of the moment and while I was feeling totally dejected. It was the wrong decision and unacceptable," said Butt.

"Therefore, I would like to apologise unreservedly to the manager, coaching staff, team-mates and fans for my actions. There is no doubt we are in a battle and it is important that we all stick together.

"I want to be a part of that and make a contribution to Birmingham City staying in the Premier League."

Ideally Birmingham, who are yet to see the former England international perform anywhere near the sort of level expected of him, would like to terminate the season-long loan agreement.

But, with Newcastle reluctant to do that, Bruce knows a conclusion will have to be reached at St Andrews. A hefty fine is the most likely outcome.

Regardless, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is bracing himself for the return of Butt in the summer, meaning the re-emergence of a reputed £40,000 weekly wage packet - something that will alarm Shepherd.

The Magpies chairman is already looking at ways of tightening the purse strings in a bid to increase the transfer kitty available to whoever succeeds Graeme Souness.

Butt, a £2.5m signing from Manchester United, will still have two years remaining on his Newcastle deal when he heads back to Tyneside and Shepherd will be putting the feelers out to find a suitable buyer in the meantime.

It is a similar situation to that which Newcastle face with Portuguese midfielder Hugo Viana and if both men fail to secure full-time moves away then Newcastle could face around £70,000 being added to the wages - for two players they deem surplus to requirements.

Newcastle remain hopeful another of their foreign flops, Albert Luque, will come good once his disagreement with caretaker boss Glenn Roeder has been diffused.

Luque has returned from his homeland, where he flew to with Roeder's blessing after being left out of the 16 that faced Portsmouth, after questioning the wisdom of Newcastle's long-term game in an interview conducted in the Spanish press.

But Roeder, who also let Luque stay in Spain for the weekend trip to Aston Villa, has revealed no grudges are being held.

"I have seen it so many times before when a foreign players goes home they go straight to their own papers. Don't forget I had Paolo di Canio under me at West Ham," said Roeder, unlikely to pick the left-winger again against Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"I know he is disappointed at not being in the squads for Portsmouth and Aston Villa. I did not take him there because I knew he was not going to be in the team or on the bench. I thought it would have been disrespectful to make him sit in the stands with the fans.

"Albert has come back from Spain and I am told he trained very hard over the weekend and we are trying to build him up slowly and bring him back into the fold. I know what he is capable of."

l Newcastle defender Celelstine Babayaro will have his appeal against his red card at Aston Villa heard tomorrow.

l Alan Pardew has urged England coach Sven Goran Eriksson to take a close look at West Ham winger Matthew Etherington ahead of the World Cup finals in Germany.

The 24-year-old former Peterborough and Tottenham player was again outstanding in West Ham's 3-0 victory over Birmingham on Monday night.

Pardew believes Etherington has evolved into ''the complete left-sided midfielder'' during West Ham's successful season.

''Although the started the season well, Matty began more slowly and I think even he would admit that,'' said Pardew.

''As we have gone on though, he has begun to demonstrate just what a good player he is.

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