McLeish expects Keane impact

ROBBIE KEANE will start his Aston Villa career on the bench but manager Alex McLeish expects him to come on and score.

“It is more likely that he will make an impact like Thierry Henry did for Arsenal,” said the Scot. “He’ll just come on and score instead! I’ve told him that.”

The Ireland captain looked good in training this week and McLeish expects him to give the players a boost and would like to see his strikers up their game with a prolific scorer like Keane waiting in the wings.

“His enthusiasm is there for all to see and he would be desperate to start, but I have to be fair to my own players and those who are here for the long term,” the former Scotland boss commented.

“And I don’t think any of them have done too much wrong. We could do with getting our strikers back in the goals and if Robbie is here to shake it up then great, but he has a part to play also.”

The stage is set for Keane to outdo his LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan and ensure Villa pick up three points against Everton in front of a home crowd who have waited years to see Keane in a Villa shirt.

McLeish added: “He has the experience and his football playing knowledge at this stage of his career has peaked. There is nothing else you can really teach a guy at that age. If he frightens people, that’s not the right word...if he motivates people and they think ‘Robbie Keane is there’ I better get the finger out then that is a useful tool.”