Allardyce still keen on Brown

Sam Allardyce admits he could make another attempt to bring Manchester United defender Wes Brown to Newcastle United.

Earlier on Friday, Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed he had rejected an offer from Newcastle for Brown.

The England international is out of contract at the end of the season and has turned down the champions' final offer of an extension.

Magpies boss Allardyce is planning talks with chairman Chris Mort regarding another bid and believes Brown could help to solve his side's defensive frailties.

"I will have to speak to the chairman over that," said Allardyce on Sky Sports News.

"From my point of view, I would like Wes Brown very, very much. A hugely experienced defender coming in would be fantastic.

"From our point of view, we have had a problem of not keeping enough clean sheets and this effectively means we have to score at least two goals to win a football match.

"If we can resurrect that side of our defensive problems with Wes, that would be fantastic. I would have to speak to Chris on that to see whether we can move it forward or whether we can't."

But Allardyce did play down a link to Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim, who he worked with during his time as Bolton Wanderers manager.

Reports claimed Newcastle were lining up a loan bid for the Israel international, but Allardyce is not planning a move for the centre-half.

He added: "I don't think so at the moment, that's not one we've certainly pursued anyway."