Keane offers to take Smith under his wing

ROY KEANE will advise Alan Smith as he looks to cement a central midfield berth with Manchester United.

Keane is entering the final season of his contract and, although he has yet to decide whether to extend his playing career, at 34, he knows his days are limited.

Alex Ferguson has spent the last two years on a fruitless search for a potential replacement, knowing his talismanic skipper will leave an enormous hole in his squad when he does finally stand down.

Bayern Munich’s Michael Ballack is one possible target, although any move for the German skipper may have to wait 12 months until his contract expires.

In the absence of any other alternative, Ferguson has given Smith the chance to show whether he shares the same footballing talent, as well as the obvious commitment which binds the Yorkshireman with Keane.

And rather than try to put the competition down, however, Smith revealed Keane is prepared to offer the former Leeds man the benefit of his wisdom whenever he chooses.

“I have had a chat with Roy and he told me if I needed any advice, I only have to ask,” Smith said.

“Who better could I have to learn off. I have such great respect for Roy and trying to replace him at Manchester United is the hardest thing you can imagine.”

Smith caused a mini-rumpus last week when it emerged he had backed out of England’s friendly defeat in Denmark to play for United’s second string at Bolton.

Sven-Goran Eriksson was ultimately forced to admit there had been a major lack of communication over Smith’s absence, with the player himself completely blameless.

As it turned out, with England suffering so badly in Copenhagen, Smith chose correctly, especially as he scored and got a much-needed 90 minutes under his belt.

That extra game-time proved valuable in Budapest on Wednesday night when the 24-year-old occupied the central midfield slot in a competitive game for the first time.

And although he picked up a booking in the 3-0 win over Debrecen, it did not diminish his enjoyment at being given the chance to fight for a starting spot.

“I want to give the manager a problem,” said Smith, who completed a controversial £6 million move from Elland Road just over a year ago.

“I want to put him in a position where he doesn’t want to leave me out of the team.

“When you get the opportunity to play for Manchester United, you have to make sure you are ready. That is why I chose to play for the reserves,” he said.

“I knew I wasn’t going to play the full 90 minutes for England and I needed to get some minutes under my belt. There was nothing more to it than that, I just think there was a misunderstanding somewhere along the way.”