Keane lends his support

Roy Keane has adopted the role of father-figure to the younger players since returning to the Republic of Ireland set-up.

It is a responsibility he has been keen to shoulder, and something he talked over with boss Brian Kerr in the summer when he looked at the prospect of ending his self-imposed international exile following his infamous departure before the 2002 World Cup finals.

Kerr has particularly noticed Keane proving as good as his word over the last two days since linking up with the squad after declaring himself relatively fit to face Switzerland in tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier at Basle’s St Jakob Park.

Keane had initially ruled himself out of the opening two Group Four matches with Cyprus and the Swiss after fracturing two ribs while playing for Manchester United in a Champions League clash against Dinamo Bucharest.

But the 33-year-old is back and ready to play what will be his first competitive away game for Ireland for three and a half years, with his last in Andorra in March 2001.

And it would appear Keane is now doing more than just turning up and playing, with his new-found role perhaps going against people’s perceptions of the midfielder as a loner.

Kerr revealed: “In the last couple of days he has had an influence and an impact on the other players. I’ve seen him spending time talking to them.

“He may be talking about the price of houses in Cork, but he would seem to be taking on the role of being an experienced guide to some of the less-experienced players, and I am more than happy to see that.

“He did say to me, going back to our conversations when he expressed an interest in returning to the team, that he thought he had a role to play with some of the younger and newer players coming into the squad, and that will do for me.

“I guess he has always played with fairly experienced players, but I would imagine this group is the youngest – or the least capped in many ways – compared to those he has played with in previous years.

“When you think about it, it’s an obvious role for him to have, and I and the rest of the staff are more than happy to let the experienced players have that role.

“They can influence the others with their experience and understanding of what is required to get results in major games.”

The onus will certainly be on Keane tomorrow to ensure those around him keep their cool as the build up to the game has been dominated by talk of revenge, and of it being a grudge match against the Swiss after the ill-tempered affair 11 months ago.

Striker Clinton Morrison, in particular, has spoken of being racially abused by Swiss striker Alexander Frei in the 2-0 defeat last October, a result which ended Ireland’s hopes of reaching the Euro 2004 finals.

Kerr conceded to having already spoken with his players about retaining their focus and ensuring they do not let the past interfere with the future.

“If there were individual spats between players then I’m surprised, but I suppose a fair bit goes in games we don’t know about from the sidelines,” said Kerr.

“In relation to grudges, we’re here to play Switzerland and there will be an expectancy for them to get the three points as handily as they did last time.

“They also beat us in Dublin, so maybe they are thinking it’s a banker for the three points, but there’s no grudge.

“I don’t have any and neither do the players, so it will have no bearing whatsoever on how the game will be played.

“There is the lingering awareness it wasn’t a good performance the last time we played here, and that may well spur on individual players to do better.

“But I’m less inclined to go back over it. We’ve moved on a bit since then and you can’t change the past.

“I often say to my teams and to players in preparing for games not to dwell on an issue or a mistake you’ve made in a particular game.

“You can only change the future, or improve the future or do your best to improve the future, so let it go, and we’ve tried to have that attitude about us.

“They have to concentrate on their performance in this game and hopefully get a good result to go with it. That’s what their approach should be. They should be focused.”

Damien Duff, meanwhile, looks certain to play after coming through today’s training session with no ill effects to the calf injury he sustained in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Cyprus.