The 62-year-old was admitted to a midlands hospital this morning after complaining of feeling unwell at the team hotel ahead of this afternoon's 3-2 Barclays Premier League victory at West Brom.

But a club spokesman tonight confirmed that Kinnear will remain under observation for a couple of days before being released.

He said: "Joe Kinnear was admitted to hospital on Saturday morning after complaining of high blood pressure.

"He underwent a series of tests during the day and the subsequent results have shown he is okay.

"As a precaution, Joe will remain in hospital for observation for a couple of days and will then be discharged."

Kinnear will have felt much better by this evening after his team, under the guidance of assistant boss Chris Hughton, eased their relegation fears with a first victory in seven league games at The Hawthorns.

He was later visited in hospital by Hughton and the club's managing director Derek Llambias, but revealed he had been kept fully informed of what was happening by his grandson.

Kinnear said: "I would like to thank everyone who has been asking how I have been feeling.

"Although I missed the game, I had my grandson giving me a full commentary on the match.

"It was a great win for us and I told Chris well done and to pass on my congratulations to the players when he came to see me on Saturday evening."

Llambias admitted Kinnear had been more concerned about the game than his own situation.

He said: "Joe was in good spirits and had been listening to the game all afternoon.

"And in typical Joe fashion, he was more concerned about the team's win than himself.

"He was nice and relaxed and hopefully will be back home in a couple of days."

The Magpies at least have the cushion of having no game to prepare for next weekend following their exit from the FA Cup, and many of their players will be away on international duty this week.

But they will hope Kinnear makes a swift recovery as they attempt to drag themselves away from the Barclays Premier League drop zone.

Today's victory left them in 13th place and four points clear of the bottom three, although with Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea due at St James' Park in their next four home games, there is much more hard work to be done.

Kinnear, who suffered a mild heart attack in March 1999 during his spell in charge at Wimbledon, was appointed interim manager by the Magpies in September in the wake of Kevin Keegan's departure.

A promising start earned him the job until the end of the season, and he revealed recently that owner Mike Ashley has offered him a two-year deal to stay on Tyneside.