Keane encouraged by United’s change of fortune

WHISPER it quietly around Stamford Bridge and Highbury but the men from Old Trafford might just be on the march again.

Written off completely after last month’s defeat at Portsmouth, Manchester United have since won five games out of six - the exception a 0-0 home derby draw with City. They have also rediscovered their scoring touch and seen key members of the squad, notably Paul Scholes, return to something like top form.

Crucially, they have also confirmed their presence in the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a game to spare, offering Ferguson the option of allowing some of his players to forego the draining eight-hour round trip to Turkey for the final Group D encounter with Fenerbahce on December 8.

And while no-one inside Old Trafford is claiming the corner has been turned just yet, after two months of inconsistency, it appears there is reason for optimism once more.

“There have been some good signs over the last few weeks,” admitted captain Roy Keane.

“Our performances have improved, even against Manchester City I thought we played some decent stuff. But it is all about putting the ball into the net. Over the past few games, we have managed to do that.

“We have always created chances but once you start taking them, it really makes a hell of a difference to everyone around the club. I don’t know if this will be a turning point because we have had decent results before, felt we were back and then we have slipped up and had a bad result.

“There is no doubt we have improved over the last few weeks. Now we need to keep it going.”

The victory over Lyon did come at a cost, with goalscorers Gary Neville and Ruud van Nistelrooy both doubtful for Saturday’s encounter at West Brom, along with Ryan Giggs, who missed the Old Trafford win with a hamstring problem.

If all three miss out, the key for Ferguson will be to bring in replacements - probably Darren Fletcher and Wes Brown - plus any other alterations he feels are required, which could involve Keane being rested, without affecting United’s momentum.

Clearly, the quality is still there given the way they largely dominated a Lyon side who have gone four points clear in their pursuit of a fourth successive French league title and took United apart in the previous meeting between the sides in September.

“When you look at their results over the last few years, Lyon are not a bad side,” observed Keane.

“They gave us a hard game over there and we knew it would be tough again. But we always fancy ourselves at Old Trafford and fortunately we got the result we wanted and with it another decent performance.”

By the time Ferguson finalises his plans for the Fenerbahce trip, he will hope to have secured six more Premiership points from Saturday’s visit to the Hawthorns and the following week’s encounter with Southampton, which fall either side of a Carling Cup quarter-final duel with Arsenal.

Only when he assesses the situation at that point will the United boss determine the make-up of the squad that will head to Turkey.

Though qualification has been assured, another win will probably be needed to top the group, given Lyon should gain maximum points from their home game with already eliminated Sparta Prague.

Conventional wisdom suggests that winning the group, which would earn a last 16 tussle with a runner-up with the second leg on home soil, is a major benefit.

Ferguson might be willing to take the risk of landing a runners-up spot knowing the only two likely winners he would be really desperate to avoid would be Juventus and either Barcelona or AC Milan, one of whom will have to finish second anyway.

“It would be nice to win the group but who knows whether it will be important or not,” said Keane.