Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson yesterday dismissed reports that Roy Keane would miss the rest of the season because of a knee problem and claimed the Irish midfielder has every chance of playing in the Champions League final in the middle of May if the club qualifies.
Keane has now had the injury he picked up in Tuesday's game against Deportivo La Coruna seen by a specialist and Ferguson told BBC local radio in Manchester that the problem was definitely a hamstring problem.
"It's nothing to do with his knee," said Ferguson. "If we get to the Champions league final on the 15th of May then, as far as I'm concerned, Roy should be in a position to play."
Keane's representative Michael Kennedy has also indicated that the player is likely to be fit in plenty of time to travel with Ireland to the world cup. "Roy told me when he got back from Spain that he would be able to play there," he said.
The Corkman, meanwhile, has been included in the six-man short-list for this season's PFA Player of the Year. Keane is one of the three United players who make the final stage of the selection process with David Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arsenal's Thierry Henry and Robert Pires as well as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of Chelsea completing the line up. The winner will be announced tomorrow week.
Germany have had their own injury problems this week with 22-year-old midfielder Sebastian Deisler picking up another knock in training and now looking decidedly unlikely to play for his country in Japan.
Deisler had only recently returned after five months out in the wake of a knee operation. But the Hertha Berlin playmaker has now torn a leg muscle and is reported to have all but conceded that he will not be fit in time to join up with the international squad.
Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier has signalled his determination to keep Nicolas Anelka at Anfield.
The 22-year-old joined the Merseyside giants from Paris St Germain on loan until the end of the season following the sale of Robbie Fowler to Leeds.
Glasgow Rangers winger Peter Lovenkrands has admitted the signing of Denmark team-mate Peter Madsen would be a welcome addition to the Ibrox side. Reports have linked the Brondby striker with a move to Glasgow and manager Alex McLeish admits he is one of a number of players who interest him.
Madsen has already had a taste of what life at Rangers would be like after Republic of Ireland supporters jeered him during last month's international after mistaking him for Ibrox star Lovenkrands.
Kevin Keegan's footballing rebirth continued yesterday as his Manchester City side were promoted to the Premiership. City were not in action last night, but Wolves' 1-0 loss at Millwall guaranteed that they would stay in the top two until the end of the season.
Keegan's team have 90 points from 43 matches and will clinch the championship today should they defeat Barnsley at Maine Road.
A decade after the Ivory Coast swept to its sole African Nations Cup title, a government minister has finally paid off disgruntled witch doctors who claim to have helped win the trophy.
Witch doctors from the village of Akradio were enlisted by the minister of sport before the 1992 Cup to give the national side an extra edge. The Elephants won the final, but the witch doctors grumbled they had not been rewarded - and put a jinx on the side.
"I'm asking for forgiveness from the village of Akradio for the promises which weren't kept after the 1992 Nations Cup," Defence and Civil Protection Minister Moise Lida Kouassi said.
"I'm offering a bottle of liquor and the sum of 1.5 million CFA francs ($2,000) so that the village, through the perceptiveness of its wise men, will continue to help the Republic and, in particular, the minister of sport," he said.
The West African country has not had much success in the Nations Cup since 1992.
