ROY KEANE'S influence on Manchester United will be illustrated, yet again, in Alex Ferguson's choice of a team to face FC Porto in the European Champions League at Old Trafford tomorrow.
Although there is evidence that the ankle injury which the Irishman sustained in training last week is more serious than was originally suspected, the likelihood is that he will be pressed into service for United's most important assignment in years.
For the fourth consecutive day Keane's fitness was close to the top of the agenda at Old Trafford where the visit of the Portuguese club is reviving a proud tradition of big European nights.
"It's the biggest single problem we have, but if Roy can do all the work we ask of him over the next 24 hours or so, he'll be in the team," said Ferguson.
"After doing some jogging followed by swimming therapy, he returned in the afternoon for more running and that's an indication of how desperately anxious he is to start the match.
"At this stage, he's definitely got a chance, but until such time as he twists and turns in training and start splitting pressure on his ankle, we won't be in a position to gauge the extent of his recovery.
Dismissing speculation that Keane's absence from last Saturday's 3-1 win over Coventry was a mere tactical ploy, Ferguson stressed that it was dictated by circumstances.
"Keane is the most important player in Britain and there is no way you deliberately leave somebody like that out of an important championship game at this time of year.
The other side of that coin is that you do everything possible to get him ready for a big game like the one on Wednesday night. And if it means waiting until just before the kick-off to help him make it, I'm prepared to do it."
Apart from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, their two long-term casualties, the English champions will field at full strength if Keane is pronounced fit to play. And that must be a reassuring thought for Ferguson at a stage of the season when others are beginning to count the cost of punitive winter programmes.
Mick McCarthy will be among those in attendance at Old Trafford, primarily to watch Denis Irwin and, of course, Keane if he plays. The Irish manager, I suspect, will not be too unhappy if the midfielder fails to win his fight for fitness in the countdown to the World Cup game in Macedonia on April 2nd.
The player has already had a weekend off and with a two-match suspension due to start on Saturday, he should benefit from his enforced rest.
The doomsday scenario for McCarthy would be for Keane to aggravate the injury in tomorrow's game - a situation which could have repercussions for the World Cup fixture.
The more realistic fear for McCarthy just now is that Steve Staunton will not be ready to play in Skopje. Staunton returned from an ankle injury to face Liverpool in Aston Villa's team at the weekend but lasted only until halftime,
"I was a bit concerned with what I saw," McCarthy admitted. "Steve didn't look right to me from his first touch on the ball. Hopefully, he will not have done himself too much damage in staying on as long as he did.
"There is an obvious temptation for players to push themselves to be ready for a big game, such as the one against Liverpool on Sunday, yet, I doubt if Steve would have taken the chance if he didn't think he was right."
Staunton now has a month to confound those who reckon that he erred on the side of impetuosity at the weekend, but he remains optimistic.
"Before the Liverpool match, both Brian Little and myself realised that I might not get through the full 90 minutes with my ankle," he said. "But I will be available for our next game against, West Ham on Saturday week."
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