SOCCER/ International friendly: He may strive for perfection in all things, and even come close to achieving it in one or two areas of his professional life, but on yesterday's evidence Roy Keane's comeback could still do with a little bit of work.

In terms of hype, the one planned for Bydgoszcz tomorrow night was pretty much exquisite, with the prospect of his return comfortably overshadowing every other aspect of this week's trip to Poland.

In the execution department, however, it fell down badly just before lunchtime yesterday when any chance of the Corkman making his 59th appearance in a green jersey ended before it had even got off the ground. Initially there were no announcements, but it gradually emerged that the 32-year-old was withdrawing from the travelling party citing the hamstring injury that has troubled him for several weeks and kept him out of three Manchester United games.

Speaking in Dublin airport minutes before he and the Keano-less squad of 19 players left for Poland, manager Brian Kerr said the midfielder, who had played a full part in a vigorous training session a couple of hours earlier, had wanted to travel despite the problem. But after talks between the player and medical staff, it was decided it would be better for him to return to Manchester.

"He trained well and he was pleased with the way the training had gone," said Kerr. "But he just felt himself, and the medical staff agreed, that there was a danger he might aggravate it (the injury).

"He was anxious to go," the Ireland manager continued. "He wanted to go, but we said no. If he wasn't going to be able to play he was better off going to Manchester and getting treatment. He was disappointed, but he was still happy with the couple of days he had here with us and happy that he has got that bit out of the way."

Though Keane played all 90 minutes of United's game against Liverpool, his performance was subdued and it was generally recognised that, having only returned from a lay-off, he was not yet 100 per cent fit. After the game manager Alex Ferguson is reported to have spoken with the player for 25 minutes, and it may be that his skipper provided assurances to the Scot at that stage that he would not do anything this week that might undermine his ability to play in United's remaining league games or next month's FA Cup final in Cardiff.

On the face of it the reasons behind his decision to stay behind rather than travel yesterday appear genuine, although there were, inevitably, suspicions that, given his long record of skipping away friendlies (he last played in one eight years ago) and the pressure from his club, the player never had any intention of accompanying the squad on the second leg of the journey.

Chris Hughton said that Keane had been "very upset" over the turn of events.

But at least he was spared the irritation the rest of the squad suffered, of being made to remain on the plane at Bydgoszcz airport while all the luggage was first unloaded and then left, rather unceremoniously, on the ground outside the tiny terminal building for collection.

There was, meanwhile, also some dismay over Keane's withdrawal amongst members of the media who had been unable to get a place on the official trip after the Manchester United player had been first named in the squad.

Several ended up making their way to Bydgoszcz by rather roundabout routes, and one, whose English employers had insisted he be in Dublin yesterday morning in case Keane held a press conference, took an early flight into Ireland from London and paid a flying visit to training before travelling on to the match venue (where he was due to arrive very late last night) via Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Warsaw. After going to so much trouble, he received the main news of the day from a colleague by text message.

The subject of Keane's return will now, no doubt, be the subject of renewed speculation in the build-up to the naming of Kerr's squad for next month's friendly against Romania.

But the Ireland manager had more pressing concerns yesterday as he struggled, in the face of further withdrawals, to keep the number of players in the squad around the 20 mark.

Matt Holland and David Connolly were yesterday's early casualties, while Robbie Keane may or may not make the journey to Bydgoszcz directly from London today depending on how well he has recovered from a knock to the head sustained in the Arsenal game on Sunday. If the Spurs striker fails to travel it will bring the number of withdrawals to 11, surpassing even the 10 with which Don Givens had to cope for the game in Athens a year and a half ago.

On that occasion the high number of absentees resulted in Glen Crowe being handed his international debut, and among the beneficiaries of yesterday's difficulties was another eircom League striker, Jason Byrne, who arrived at the team hotel just before midday after Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon had passed on news of his call up.

Also drafted in was Coventry City pair Michael Doyle and Graham Barrett. The additions leave Kerr with a squad that includes just five players over 26, two of whom are goalkeepers.

Doyle and Byrne also bring the total of uncapped players to three, with the other, Jonathan Douglas, having arrived on Sunday in the wake of the first wave of withdrawals. The Clones-born midfielder described his call up as a "dream come through" yesterday, and admitted to having spent most of his first day in the squad introducing himself to players he had previously only admired from afar.