Chopra ban hits Keane’s forward thinking

ROY KEANE has been plunged into a striker crisis ahead of Sunderland’s season opener against Liverpool on Saturday after Michael Chopra was hit with a three-match ban.

Manager Keane yesterday confirmed the forward’s suspension for his sending-off for a mistimed tackle in the pre-season game with Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

Keane was banished to the stand for his protests, but referee Bruno Paixao has taken no further action against the Black Cats boss.

With key striker Kenwyne Jones ruled out for at least the first two months of the season after damaging a knee on duty for Trinidad & Tobago against England, the loss of Chopra is a major blow.

New signing El-Hadji Diouf and Ireland duo Daryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes are now Keane’s only frontline options as his side prepare to host a Liverpool outfit boosted by the £20million (€25m) arrival of Republic striker Robbie Keane.

The Sunderland manager admitted he had a near-£20m offer rejected this summer for a striker — believed to be Robbie Keane’s ex-Tottenham teammate, Darren Bent.

He said: “We had a bid turned down not long ago for that sort of money. If we can get the right quality in — someone like Robbie Keane — then we’ll pay, especially in attacking positions.”!

Keane is anxious to find a replacement for Northern Ireland centre-back Jonny Evans, who returned to Man United at the end of last season after his second loan spell. But he sees little immediate prospect of Evans becoming a permanent fixture on Wearside.

“He’s a good player and the really good players make the players around them better. My tip was always that Jonny would go back to Man United and it was going to be a hard deal to do.

“I wouldn’t have thought there was any chance of Jonny coming back here — if you saw the e-mail (Man. United chief executive) David Gill sent us back, you would be pretty sure it’s going to be a hard one!

“We’ve probably five defenders in our first team, so you do the maths and work out where we need improvement.’’

Meanwhile, Keane believes former Cork City striker Roy O’Donovan will benefit from his move to Dundee United on a season-long loan.

He said: “Roy came here last summer and the difference in him in a year is fantastic. We were delighted with him last year, he contributed like everyone else, but I think he probably needed another 15-20 games and he’s gone to a good club where he’ll get the games he needs.’’