Keane will come back 'wiser'

Manchester United captain Roy Keane insists he will be “wiser” when he finally returns from injury in the next month.

However, he admitted that he may even face a fight to win back his place after his team-mates’ superb display to beat Arsenal 2-0 in his continued absence.

Keane, who accepts he has broken similar promises to clean up his act in the past, is hoping to be back in training with the first-team in a couple of weeks’ time.

After all, in his last United appearance against Sunderland on August 31, he completely lost his head and was sent off for elbowing Jason McAteer.

And having served a ban for comments in his autobiography about his revenge tackle on Alfie Haaland while has been out injured, he knows that he must at least try to put his indiscipline behind him.

Keane told Sky Sports: “I need to use my head a bit more when I get back.

“Without doubt, when you see the game being played at 100 mph and I try to play at 120 mph, you can’t do it. At my age it takes its toll.

“When I come back, hopefully – and the lads will probably laugh at this - I’ll be a bit wiser. But I’ve said that many times before and come unstuck, so we’ll have to wait and see!”

Keane was impressed with his team-mates’ display in defeating Arsenal despite an injury list which also includes Rio Ferdinand, Laurent Blanc, David Beckham and Nicky Butt.

“It should be about three weeks. I’ve been training this week with the physio, twisting and turning,” he revealed about his own plans to return.

“After what I’ve seen today, it’ll be a few months before I’m back in the team though!

“The likes of Phil Neville and Wes Brown, in coming back from injury, have been fantastic and deserve all the credit in the world. As the manager said, it gives us a chance.

“I’ve been watching the games, although I’m not very good at it. Most players would say exactly the same but I don’t mind watching when we get results like that.

“After the first five minutes of the game, I thought there was only one team going to win this match. It’s a fantastic result, but as good a result as it was, Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea will be happy too.”