United reject Keane proves doubters wrong
MICHAEL KEANE’S elevation from Manchester United reject to firstchoice England player will continue apace today with the Burnley defender expected to start alongside John Stones against Lithuania.
After an impressive debut in the defeat to Germany last week, the withdrawal of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling from the squad, along with Gary Cahill’s suspension mean that Keane will take the stage at Wembley six years after he travelled there as a teenager to watch Manchester United lose to Barcelona in the Champions League final.
Keane was part of an impressive 2011 United FA Youth Cup-winning team, which included Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison.
Their reward was tickets to the Champions League final at Wembley, which saw Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta deliver possibly their best-ever team performance to triumph 3-1.
Keane recalled: ‘We travelled down as a team to watch United in that Champions League final after the FA Youth Cup final. Barcelona were unbelievable that night.
‘I’ve warmed up a few times there with England but never got on. It’s a great place so, hopefully, that first experience isn’t too far away.’
His England debut last week was a vindication of sorts, having had to leave United in 2014 to join Burnley.
‘It was a dream come true,’ said Keane, ‘something I’ve been striving for over the last year or two. To finally do it in a game of that magnitude against the current world champions, I can’t really put it into words.’
Liverpool and Everton are among the clubs now looking to sign Keane in the summer and the centre-half always believed he could come back from his United disappointment, where he fell under the radar in the last two years of his career there, with David Moyes replacing Sir Alex Ferguson and then leaving as Louis van Gaal arrived.
‘I have confidence in my ability,’ said Keane. ‘When I went out on loan, I always felt it was to come back and play for United. The coaches told me that.
‘I feel like the change in manager at times didn’t help me and, as soon as I left there, I wanted to prove them wrong. It made me want to work harder.
‘I’m thankful for Sean Dyche at Burnley giving me the opportunity to play regularly. It gave me the confidence and, hopefully, I have now proved a few people wrong.’
Keane has former England captain Rio Ferdinand as an agent and mentor and said: ‘Rio has been vital for me. He sent me a voicemail on the morning of the Germany game when I told him I was playing. It was about a minute long, giving me lots of advice and telling me what to do.
‘He has been someone I’ve leant on quite a lot for his experience and advice, especially over the last year or so when I’ve come into big games and big situations. I’m thankful to him.
‘When he speaks to me, he says: “Make sure you get your defending right first. That’s your basics as a defender. You need to do that and build on it from there”.
‘Obviously, playing out from the back is nice, if you get the chance to do it. If you can do both things, that’s brilliant. But if you can only do one thing, then it’s got to be defending.’
Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe is set to make a sensational return for his country against Lithuania today.
The Sunderland striker has not played for England since November 2013 but is in line to start this evening’s World Cup qualifier.
Defoe has been a rare bright spot for the Black Cats this season as they have struggled at the bottom of the Premier League.
He has scored 14 goals and his performances have persuaded England boss Gareth Southgate to hand him an international recall after a four-year absence.
The 34-year-old, whose first cap for England came against Sweden in 2004, will replace Jamie Vardy, who is understood to have picked up a slight knock against Germany on Wednesday, in the starting XI.
Southgate said: ‘In the last two games for us, against Spain and Germany, Jamie has set the tone with his performances from the front. ‘He presses and runs in behind defences and he is in good form for Leicester. ‘Equally Jermain is scoring goals for his club although he does not get too many chances. He is a deadly finisher.
‘If called upon, I believe that he will score goals.’