Celtic and Keane have nowhere to go it seems

Scottish League Cup Quarter-final: Roy Keane is likely to have to make his peace at Manchester United to prolong his playing career after Celtic's chief executive Peter Lawwell said yesterday that the club's manager Gordon Strachan has shown no desire to sign the Irishman.

Keane seemed to have his heart set on a move to Glasgow in January after admitting his days at Old Trafford were numbered, but Lawwell said: "He is a worldwide name and a fantastic footballer, but he is still a United player. We are in the process of looking at Gordon's budget for January, but he hasn't spoken to us about Keane."

Celtic head into tonight's Old Firm clash - the first of two in the space of 10 days - on a stable footing in the boardroom and on the field and in a far more optimistic mood than might have been anticipated after their uncertain start to the season.

The Bhoys are at the top of the table and Strachan has finally been embraced by the club's supporters, a fact that Lawwell has welcomed.

"We went though a massive change before the season started and I don't think the extent of that change was appreciated externally," he said.

"We had a new management team, we had lost 13 players in six months, brought in seven and in terms of style Gordon wanted something different to Martin O'Neill. The existing players had to get used to new things.

"The early big games came too early for us in that change process, so the satisfaction is that having been through so much we are seeing stability now. There's a real satisfaction in seeing Gordon being successful."

While Celtic have prospered after a disastrous opening to Strachan's reign - they were humbled 5-0 by Artmedia Bratislava in his first match, a result that virtually ended their European campaign - Rangers have been in indifferent form. Alex McLeish's men have lost three SPL matches and trail Celtic by 12 points.

That Strachan has managed such a turnaround is all the more impressive because he has had to follow O'Neill, the most successful Celtic manager since Jock Stein.

"He has both faced that challenge and recovered from a bad start where certain sections of the media and support had question marks over him," said Lawwell. "Gordon knew as much about Celtic from the outside looking in as anyone did, but, even at that, when he came in here, there were huge surprises to him in terms of the scale of the job. But he has coped with those surprises well."

There are no such hidden issues with the club's debts, which stand at £20million after a period of sustained expenditure on high-profile players, mainly under O'Neill's stewardship. Celtic hope to raise £15million from a share issue launched last month, but none of it will be spent on transfers.

Lawwell disputes, though, that Celtic are no longer able to compete with Europe's elite clubs when it comes to signing players.

"We need to build a sustainable business, so the club simply can't keep losing money," he said.

The Old Firm hierarchy continue to look at the possibility of a long-mooted move to the English Premiership.

"For me, Celtic's full potential will not be fulfilled playing in a nation of four million people," he said.

"If Celtic played in an environment where they got the same exposure as England, Germany or Spain, then there would be few bigger clubs in the world. To get the opportunity to take Celtic throughout the world would be a dream, but at the moment there is nowhere to go."

In tonight's League Cup tie, Rangers manager Alex McLeish will be forced to cope without Brahim Hemdani - who limped off during Saturday's match against Aberdeen. Peter Lovenkrands is also doubtful because of the virus which made him miss the second half of that match.

Celtic will be without Chris Sutton, who missed the win at Falkirk with a knee problem. Ireland's Aiden McGeady is hoping to start again after an impressive display at the weekend.Midfielder Alan Thompson returns after suspension. Guardian Service

Celtic v Rangers, Celtic Park, 7.45pm On TV: Setanta Sports