Roy Keane joked that Chelsea lodged an appeal to allow Manchester United captain Harry Maguire to play against them on Sunday.
Maguire is suspended from the game at Stamford Bridge having been shown a red card in last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Watford.
That was United’s fifth Premier League defeat in seven games and the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Carrick set to lead United against Chelsea, ahead of the arrival of Ralf Rangnick.
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United legend Keane has been one of Maguire’s biggest critics in recent weeks, but insisted he will give the skipper credit when it’s deserved, before joking that Chelsea would prefer if he was available to face his former team.
“When I go to a match, I’ll be fair with people,” Keane told the Irish Examiner.
“Nobody has to tell me how hard it is. I’ve been there and it’s hard to win matches at the top level. I never took the game easy in my life.
“But it frustrates me when I see players making the same mistakes over and over again, whether it be Fred, Maguire or these people. There’s players at Manchester United going through the motions and slacking off.
“If I’m doing a game next week and Maguire or Fred played well, I’d be quite happy to give them credit. No problem.” Asked about Maguire’s absence for United today, Keane quipped: “Yeah, I think Chelsea appealed that one.”
Keane insists he has no bias for or against the club he spent 13 trophy-laden years at.
“I’ve no agenda with Manchester United. What I try to do is turn up on time, respect the people I work with, give my opinion and I go home.
“One of the biggest problems for Manchester United is that Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool are three strong teams. One of those might go through a bad spell but they’ve to catch those three.
“Momentum is huge in sport. You can get it going upwards but always the other way and United just have to try to stop the rot. They’ve to hang in there, they’re through the knockout stages of the Champions League – not saying they’re going to win it – but things can change quickly.”
