KEOGH NO CASTAWAY
Defender will play through the pain barrier rather than be cut adrift
RICHARD KEOGH wants to cast off his Championship shackles for Premier League action. And the centre-back wasn’t going to miss the chance to impress new Ireland boss Mick Mccarthy despite suffering a broken hand last week.
Perhaps conscious of wanting to make an early impact on Mccarthy, the Derby stalwart is available to face Gibraltar despite wearing a cast – or, as he describes it, a splint – as protection.
The injury occurred in the Stoke game last Wednesday, caused by the spinning ball slapping against the middle of his hand. Surgery was suggested but, with the start of a new Euros qualifying campaign and a shot at the play-offs at club level coming up, the 32-year-old worked out with his consultant that he could continue until the summer.
The veteran Rams defender explained: “He said you can have the surgery and still come get back quite quickly, but potentially I might miss a few games.
“So I said with this coming up (with Ireland) and a big end to the season with Derby, I’d rather just take the risk a little bit more and try to keep playing.”
Mccarthy is a fan of Keogh, who recently passed the 600-game mark at club level. But the 21-times capped defender is taking nothing for granted.
Cyrus Christie, inset, was a regular squad pick by Martin O’neill but, currently out of favour at club level, Keogh’s Derby colleague missed the cut for this week.
“They want players that are playing well, playing every week,” added Keogh.
“With someone like Cyrus, who has not played as much as he would like, and with Seamie (Coleman) and Docs (Matt Doherty) doing so well... I think it’s one of those where he’s still going to be a big part of the future because he’s a good player, but the manager just wants players who are playing every week and ready to go.
“Obviously things can change. A lot of the players on the standby list, it gives them something to aim for.
“If you want to represent Ireland, nothing comes easy. You’ve got to work for it. The manager has named the squad he feels is the one moving forward at the moment.”
After almost 10 years in the Championship, Keogh wants to propel himself onto the big stage at club level.
The nearest he has come to promotion was when Derby reached the Championship play-off final in 2014, but Keogh’s mistake led to Bobby Zamora’s winner and QPR went up. This was supposed to be a transition year but Derby are in eighth place and a point off the play-off berths in what is another tight, exciting contest.
“I think we still have a big shot,” he said. “Every player wants to play in the Premier League and it’s not happened for me yet, for whatever reason.
“I feel like my game has been good enough to play in the Premier League – I feel like I’ve proved that with Ireland and in the Championship.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who have played in the Premier League and worked there, and they’ve been complimentary of me, saying my game is good enough.
“Football is about a bit of luck, it’s about timing and stuff like that. There’s no reason why I can’t get there with Derby. It’s still a massive drive.
“I’ve been with Derby seven years now and I’ve played a lot of games for the club and I’ve watched the club grow.
“It deserves to be in the Premier League and I’ll do everything I can to try and make that happen.”