Keane expected to skip Fergie’s statue unveiling

All of the captains from Alex Ferguson’s glorious 26-year reign at Manchester United have been invited to the unveiling of a statue in the Scot’s honour at Old Trafford today but it seems unlikely that Roy Keane will take the opportunity to end his rift with his former boss.

Keane enjoyed huge success as United’s enforcer and captained the club between 1997 and 2005 but left the club in acrimonious circumstances after criticising the team on MUTV, United’s in-house television station following a 4-1 Premier League defeat to Middlesbrough, a game the Corkman missed through injury.

Speaking in May, Keane said he felt ‘‘insulted’’, ‘‘badly treated’’ and ‘‘lied to’’ by the club and said Ferguson didn’t know how long the former Republic of Ireland captain had been at Old Trafford.

Referring to the day he left the club, Keane said: “I left that morning and really, that morning, looking back, I should have stopped playing then because they really got on my nerves, they frustrated me. I felt badly treated.’’

Today offers an opportunity for a reconciliation of sorts but given the depth of Keane’s anger it’s hard to see him grasping the olive branch offered by his former employers.