O'Shea Keane for Roy's return

Manchester United defender John O’Shea believes his Old Trafford team-mate Roy Keane wants to play for the Republic of Ireland again.

Keane has been in dispute with his country since his bust-up with former Republic boss Mick McCarthy.

But with the manager now departed, the door is open for the former captain to return from his international exile when he is fit again in the new year.

Nobody knows if Keane will be back to lead his country in the Euro 2004 qualifying double-header in Georgia and Albania. But O’Shea, in Athens for the friendly against Greece, hopes there is every chance it will happen.

“Every time Roy has played for his country he has given everything – and I am sure he would love to come back and do a job for Ireland,” said O’Shea.

“It remains to be seen. But I hope Roy comes back and I think he will come back.

“Roy has been a fantastic inspiration for me, and we are missing him terribly at the club now. He has had a tough time with his hip injury, and we don’t know when he’ll be back. But we need him back sooner rather than later.

“When I first figured in the Republic of Ireland reckoning both Roy and Denis Irwin were great inspirations for me. They showed in their performances for their country how they went about it – they gave everything when they played with their country.

“When I first started training with them I realised you need to have a very high standard and you can’t afford to let your levels drop; otherwise you’ll be out of the team.”

It has been more than a year since O’Shea won his first cap for his country. But he has been in excellent form for United this season and is at last set to make his long overdue second appearance in the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium tomorrow night as part of caretaker-manager Don Givens’ team.

“I feel I have done okay this season for United and I have really been enjoying it,” said O’Shea.

“Every chance I have had – whether it be at centre-half, right-back or left-back – I have done okay.

“I think the manager knows deep down that I am a centre-back and I feel that is my best position. But if I am playing week-in, week-out for Manchester United I don’t mind where I play.

“When you step out at Old Trafford in front of 67,000, if that can’t inspire you to do well then you shouldn’t be in the game.

“Now I have a chance to show what I can do for my country.”

O’Shea believes United’s current failure to challenge at the top of the Premiership is largely down to the number of injuries to key players such as Keane.

He warns that being written off has only increased their determination to succeed – and that there is still plenty of time for United to make an impact.

“We have had a lot of injuries this season, and they have been very significant because you are talking about top-class players who have been missing for weeks,” said O’Shea.

“We’ve had seven or eight players who have needed operations.

“When you are missing the players of the calibre we have been missing, you are not going to have the same fluidity you would if they were in the team.

“When people write us off, that kind of talk will definitely inspire the squad. The professionalism and the success we have had means we are not going to throw it away that easily – we are fighters.

“We are still only in mid-November, so there is plenty of time. We have some important matches coming up in which we can close the gap.”