Keane postpones operation

Roy Keane will make Manchester United’s trip to Sunderland on Saturday after ruling out an immediate operation on his troublesome knee.

It had been reported that the former Irish captain would undergo surgery today and faced a three month spell on the sidelines.

However, PA Sport understand that Keane will not go under the knife this week and will be part of the United squad who travel to the Stadium of Light.

Although the club have again refused to reveal the extent of Keane’s injury, manager Sir Alex Ferguson did indicate there was a problem following last night’s 5-0 Champions League qualifying triumph over Zalegerszeg.

However, having played his way through the opening stages of the campaign, Keane might be willing to carry on, given the fresh injuries sustained by Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

Scholes has already been ruled out for a fortnight – including England’s friendly with Portugal – after jarring his ankle in last night’s win, while Butt’s situation is being monitored.

The England midfielder was ruled out of yesterday’s game with a toe injury and it remains to be seen whether he will travel to the north east at the weekend.

Ironically, after all the defensive personnel worries of the last month, Ferguson is now staring at a gaping hole in his midfield plans.

That situation though will not affect any moves he might make ahead of Saturday’s transfer deadline.

With doubts over their Champions League qualification now removed, the United purse strings may be released over the next couple of days.

Ferguson has defensive and goalkeeping cover at the top of his shopping list, although he admitted a deal to bring former French Under-21 full-back Julien Escude from Rennes was unlikely to be resurrected after talks broke up without agreement earlier this week.

“The Escude thing looks as though it is finished, which is disappointing,” said the United boss.

“We would still like to get a player in and we are pursuing one or two other channels, but we are running out of time.

“We have options in midfield and attack but we need defenders and we are also assessing the goalkeeping situation.”