Soccer: We need to spend, admits Keane

MANCHESTER UNITED will spend the new year in familiar territory on top of the Premiership — but a single sentence from skipper Roy Keane highlighted the fear gnawing away at Old Trafford.

Even the loss of Darren Fletcher to a hotly-disputed double yellow card could not halt United’s title march at Middlesbrough on Sunday. Alex Ferguson’s side cruised through the final half-hour with barely a scare to end a run of successive defeats at the Riverside and pile the pressure on chief championship rivals Arsenal.

Yet in the 10 days before the Red Devils resume their league programme at Bolton, Ferguson will be busily finalising his plans for the January sales.