Kerr not gloating over Roy return

MANAGER Brian Kerr insisted yesterday that Roy Keane’s return was not an occasion of personal satisfaction for him but welcomed the availability of a player he described as ‘one of Ireland’s greatest’.

Kerr was speaking after Ireland’s training session in Malahide yesterday when a squad of 26 players worked in glorious sunshine in preparation for tonight’s match against Romania and matches over the next nine days against Nigeria, Jamaica and the Netherlands.

Kerr promised that all of the players in the squad would see some playing time over the four matches and suggested that experience had shown that one or two of the younger players would come through to figure in the World Cup qualifiers next September.