Keane concedes defeat in title race

Roy Keane has hoisted the white flag of Premiership surrender and admitted Manchester United are now playing for second place.

The Red Devils captain will lead his side into battle against Birmingham at St Andrews tomorrow knowing they are now 15 points adrift of odds-on title favourites Arsenal, who ended a potentially disastrous week with a much-needed win over Liverpool at Highbury.

With just eight games of their own campaign remaining, United know even maximum points would not be enough should the Gunners secure another 10 points from their seven remaining fixtures.

And for Keane, the mathematics do not give too much reason for optimism.

“The gap between ourselves and Arsenal is too great now – there are too many points to make up,” he said.

“The objective now is to claw points back on Chelsea to try and finish second and get the other automatic place in the Champions League because we would prefer not to be coming back for pre-season having to pre-qualify.

“If it happens we will deal with it but it means there is still a lot for us to play for this season.”

The former Republic of Ireland skipper refused to offer any insight into the possibility of an international return which has rumbled on over the last couple of months, insisting his focus was solely on tomorrow’s encounter with the side managed by his former Old Trafford team-mate Steve Bruce.

Keane offered the same reason for refusing to enter the debate Arsene Wenger raised over the merits of United’s 1999 treble-winning campaign.

“I’m not the right person to talk to about that,” he said.

“In football, you have to move on.”

For Keane that means moving on to a midfield duel with Birmingham’s Welsh firebrand Robbie Savage, who launched his own bitter attack on the current United squad overnight.

Trouble never strays too far from the former Red Devils trainee and with Keane hardly likely to back down from any confrontation, the sparks seem certain to fly.

“The midfield battles are part of playing in the Premiership,” said Keane.

“The way Steve sets his team up means there will be a fast pace to tomorrow’s game and we won’t have too much time on the ball.

“Birmingham have had a very good side and they will give us a hard game but dealing with challenges like these are what we are paid to do.”

After a miserable run of form since the turn of the year, United appear to have got themselves sorted out over the last three weeks.

Victory over Tottenham, a battling draw in the league at Arsenal and then the superb FA Cup win over the Gunners have raised confidence and expectation levels again although, as is his style, Keane is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“There was a lot of euphoria around the place last weekend because of the FA Cup win but we have said enough about that now,” he said.

“The performances have been better but it has only been three games and one of those was a draw, so let’s not get too carried away.”