A spokesman for the Old Trafford club said: He had an exploratory operation on Monday when a small piece of

A spokesman for the Old Trafford club said: “He had an exploratory operation on Monday, when a small piece of cartilage was removed, and it was discovered that he would also require a cruciate knee ligament operation.”That will be performed in approximately four weeks, when the swelling has gone down. He will be out for the rest of the season.” Keane will also miss the Republic of Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Romania tomorrow week – and almost certainly the finals if the Irish qualify for France via the play-offs.”I’m not even thinking about Roy now for the play-offs or the World Cup finals proper,” Mick McCarthy, the Republic’s manager, said. “We’ve still got to get to France and without Roy it will make it doubly harder for us in the play-offs – whoever we are drawn against.” McCarthy has already lost the striker Niall Quinn with a similar injury.In the same situation as Keane is his former Old Trafford team-mate, Lee Sharpe. Leeds United’s record signing will not play again this season after damaging anterior cruciate ligaments in his knee in a pre-season friendly on 2 August.The 26-year-old former England international, who joined Leeds from Manchester United for pounds 4m last summer, will undergo surgery on the knee next Wednesday. It had been initially hoped that the injury would clear up, but a specialist yesterday ruled that surgery was required.Bolton Wanderers yesterday completed the club-record signing of the Wimbledon striker Dean Holdsworth for pounds 3.5m. The champions of England will have to do without the man who makes their midfield tick for the rest of the season.

Roy Keane’s cruciate ligament injury is bad news for both Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland, as Rupert Metcalf reports. But in the second set he started to serve double-faults, which gave me opportunities, and the more he became under pressure the more he double-faulted.”. Henman won in 66 minutes against the Slovakian, who had knocked out the third seed, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, in the first round.Henman said: “I served very well, which helped when he had a couple of break points. “I think it’s the start of a great relationship.”Like Henman, Rusedski will face a Swede in today’s quarter-final.

Rusedski’s opponent is the sixth seed, Thomas Enqvist, while Henman takes on the French Open semi-finalist, Magnus Norman.Henman took advantage of poor serving from his opponent, Karol Kucera, to secure a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win. Suddenly, though, Ferreira produced some sparkling returns to break straight back.There were no further break points in the match, but Rusedski played a superb tie-break, winning the first four points and claiming it decisively, 7-2.Rusedski, seeded fourth, declared himself “pleased with the way I served and very satisfied with my overall performance.”He praised his new coach, Tony Pickard, for his tactical guidance. “He’s watching all my matches on TV and so far his advice has been spot on. But they can take pride from a battling display in a 1-1 draw that did much to restore pride after a 3-1 first round, first leg defeat on the Riviera.
It might have been a different story after Mark Riley’s first-half goal had given Rugby Park hope of a dramatic recovery.