Celtic star Roy Keane has warned he may be forced to retire from the game after his latest injury setback. The former Manchester United skipper limped off with a hamstring injury in Celtic’s 3-0 League Cup victory over Dunfermline on Sunday.
Keane thinks the injury could be linked to his troublesome hip, which has plagued him throughout his career, and says it could force him to quit Celtic with a year left on his contract.
”As I said, I will look at things in the summer,” Keane said.
”I’m enjoying being here and it is a great honour to play for Celtic, but I will look at it in the summer because I’m just being fair to everyone. I wanted to see how things went with injuries, but I have picked up another one. I want to see how the body is and how the hip is in the summer.
”These things tend to happen more now and I have to listen to the body. But I have not been feeling too bad. Because of the hip I am going to get one or two hamstring injuries, which is something of a side effect to having a hip problem.
”Maybe breaking forward is the problem. Things seemed to open up for me and with Neil [Lennon] sitting there, there is more of an opportunity for me to get forward and support the strikers.”
Keane will undergo a scan in the next two days to discover the extent of the injury, which is a concern as he also chases a possible Premier League championship medal.
”I just felt a tug in the hamstring, but hopefully it’s not too bad. I should find out how serious it is on Tuesday.”
Keane’s thoughts were also with the late Jimmy Johnstone, who he dedicated the Hampden Park victory to.
”It’s a brilliant win for him,” said the Irishman. ”It has been sad, the last few days since his death, but it was really nice to celebrate his life in this way. The funeral and ceremony at the church were emotional so it was really nice we could do this for his family and the fans.”
Keane will also enjoy his first trophy for the Bhoys.
”It is always nice to pick up a medal and I’ll enjoy it. We wanted to win it for ourselves and the fans and it’s also the manager’s first trophy. I enjoyed the day and winning because nobody remembers the team who doesn’t win. This is important for the younger players.” — Sapa-AFP