Keane plays the mind game in bid to stop Tractor Boys’ slide

ROY KEANE has revealed that he recently called in a sports psychologist in a bid to halt Ipswich’s slide down the Championship. The Tractor Boys boss takes his 17th-placed team to Preston North End tomorrow looking to end a run of five successive league defeats.

Keane says the Championship, with games coming thick and fast, doesn’t just take its toll on players’ bodies but also their minds.

“We try all sorts to try and help the players, it’s not just a physical challenge. I think the Championship can be a mental job because there are so many games and you can lose so many, and that’s even for the teams towards the top of the table.

“But ultimately it comes down to the player. Losing games can become a mental issue because it becomes a habit. A lot of the problems we had last year were the draws where we’d got into winning positions and couldn’t quite get over the finishing line.

“We’re now on the back of some defeats and it can sometimes be confidence where you can’t see where a victory is going to come from. You look at every angle to help players.”

Keane believes his youthful squad is feeling the effects of the failure to sign the “streetwise” senior pros he targeted in the summer. QPR midfielder Shaun Derry and Irish veterans Lee Carsley and Kevin Kilbane were targeted but the club was unable to agree terms.

“You need those two or three experienced players just to steady the ship and in certain situations in games where the flow of the match changes and you lose momentum. You need them to settle the game down, maybe someone go down with an injury, someone go and get a booking, whatever it might be.”

Speculation regarding Keane’s future has continued, despite the vote of confidence from chief executive Simon Clegg at Tuesday’s club AGM, something the 39-year-old Cork man says comes with the territory.

“We’ll do our best on Saturday whether I have a week left or have a year left. The problem is because of my profile, people are getting bogged down by my position.”

Keane, well aware that footballing votes of confidence are often followed very swiftly by the sack, says he’s confident that Clegg and club owner and chairman Marcus Evans do genuinely still back him.

“I think they do but you still have to get results. The Carling Cup win against West Brom was one result, but every team can have a good day.

“We need to be consistent, and when I say consistent, I don’t mean win every week, the top teams in the Championship don’t win every week.”

If defeat to Darren Ferguson’s Preston does end Keane’s two-year tenure at Portman Road seven months early, the Cork man knows exactly where he will be pointing the finger.

“Our league form is unacceptable. If I left next week, I wouldn’t have anyone to blame.

“I wouldn’t blame Marcus Evans, Simon Clegg, the media, the supporters, my staff, players. I’d have no one to look at except myself.”