Keegan: Barton deserves second chance

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The 25-year-old was sentenced to six months in jail for assault and affray after an incident in Liverpool city centre in December and was also given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo during a training session last year.

And although Keegan has promised his player total support, he admits Barton must regain acceptance in the football work on his own merits. Keegan told Radio Five's Sportsweek programme: "I told him as long as he did things right and started to rebuild the confidence of everyone around him, which he has to do, we would stick by him."

"It's well-documented that he's had his problems but I knew of those problems at the time of taking over.

"And the Joey Barton we had for the last two months of the season was a much-changed character."

Keegan continued: "He's been punished for what he did wrong and the world is littered with people who have deserved a second chance, got it and taken it with both hands.

"There are lot of things he has to put right with people but I think he can do that.

"It's up to Joey now and he's got to win a lot of people over."