FA PREMIERSHIP: Manchester United skipper Roy Keane is determined not to rush back too quickly from his latest injury blow.

The controversial Corkman missed Tuesday night's English League Cup draw with Blackburn after limping out of the 4-1 win over Portsmouth at the weekend with a tight hamstring It was only Keane's fifth game back after spending four months on the sidelines following hip surgery.

After watching his side struggle without their inspirational leader, manager Alex Ferguson has suggested Keane may be fit for the trip to West Brom on Saturday.

But the 31-year-old is not willing to put a deadline on his recovery, although he does not believe the problem is long-term.

"It's just a bit of a hamstring strain," he told the club's official website, www.manutd.com. "I felt it after about half an hour of the Portsmouth game and I thought at half-time that I didn't want to make it any worse. It didn't feel right so I came off. It's still a bit sore now so we'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

"I've had hamstring strains in the past and you think you're better and come back too early, then you end off worse than you were at the start, so I just have to be careful.

"The key word at the moment is patience over the next few days and we'll see what happens. It's frustrating."

Meanwhile, Keane's team-mate Ryan Giggs, who only last month turned down a move to Inter Milan, believes the real United fans are still behind him.

The 28-year-old has fallen out of favour with the Old Trafford fans who cheered when he was substituted during Tuesday's match.

"Probably the main reason I'm getting criticised is that this season, and maybe last, my performances have been better away from home," Giggs said.

He agreed with Keane who had claimed the real fans were the ones who travelled to away matches.

"I never get stick off the fans who go to games week in, week out," Giggs claimed. "Perhaps my biggest critics are the Old Trafford season ticket-holders, because maybe I have not been producing my best form at home.

"But I am quite happy that I am producing my best form away - and that is a lot harder to do. The fans pay their money and expect something special every time I touch the ball, but that isn't always possible."