Kerr denies reports of any bust-up

Republic of Ireland v France: Brian Kerr yesterday ridiculed an Evening Herald story in which it was alleged that he and Roy Keane had a major row over his decision to bring the Irish squad together on Thursday and subsequent allegations of excessive drinking by several members of the panel on Friday night.

The story, which was written by two of the paper's news reporters, alleged the Manchester United midfielder had "an angry bust-up," with the manager over what was said to be a "three-night drinking spree" embarked upon by Robbie Keane. It was said that Roy Keane was "seething" over the incident which he is reported to have seen as inevitable because of the excessive time the squad was spending at a Dublin hotel ahead of the game.

At yesterday's press conference, a buoyant Kerr dismissed the story out of hand, describing it as "laughable".

"Every now and again," he said, "some paper gets the chance to do a bust-up story but there's absolutely no truth to this. I have not had a bust-up with Roy or any other of the players. I've told you before I don't do bust-ups. I have a very good and professional relationship with the players and with Roy.

"In any case, if you look at it, the article itself contains a complete contradiction. It says itself that the unnamed source says that he doesn't know that Roy was unhappy after the initial story was run so how could he possibly know if I'd had a bust-up with him. It's completely laughable."

Kerr added that he had shown the report to Roy Keane a few minutes before coming into the press conference: "I won't tell you the words he used because they weren't for family viewing."