But with plenty of Premiership prize money still to play for, Keegan has vowed to stick with his senior players, despite the emergence of Academy products such as Willo Flood, Stephen Jordan, Nedum Onuoha and Bradley Wright-Phillips.
“We have a very small squad and there are a number of youngsters on the bench,” he told the official website.
"It is fine to have a small squad as long as everyone stays fit and there are no suspensions. But at the moment I am just tapping into the same players all the time.
"It is very important that we do not let the season fade out,” he added. “It is very important for this club that we finish as high as we can.
"In some ways that pressure of where you finish and the money you get for finishing takes away the chance to experiment with younger players to see if they are ready.
"We will keep playing the strongest team and put the youngsters in when they have earned the right to be in there.
"We are still aiming to finish in the top half of the table which I think, bearing in mind the injuries we have had and the players we have lost in the transfer window, would be a good season, even if we all want to finish much higher."