International team-mates Mark Kinsella and Roy Keane meet head on at The Valley today for only the third time in their careers, with the Charlton skipper prepared to test himself against the man he considers "the best midfielder in Europe".

Kinsella has also earned critical acclaim over the past three seasons, culminating last month when he was voted Irish player of the year ahead of United captain Keane.

Since joining Charlton for £150,000 sterling from Colchester in 1996, the ex-Home Farm boy has also made the slot alongside Keane in the Republic team his own and while he admits they are not close friends off the field, he has a tremendous respect for the United captain on it.

"He's the best midfielder we have got in the league, if not Europe," said Kinsella. "Roy is very quiet, he keeps himself to himself. I get along fine with him on the pitch - he's got more confidence in me as games have gone on to do a bit."

Outsiders may consider them worlds apart but there is just 12 months between them and 28-year-old Kinsella, the younger of the two, has bridged any apparent divide.

"At first (Roy) would say `don't make any silly mistakes and keep your place'. Now I have grown in confidence and I think the partnership at international level is improving.

"He talks when you play with him, he doesn't holler and shout at international level as perhaps he does at United," added Kinsella, who claimed the armband when Keane missed the 3-0 win over Finland last month.

"He lets you know when you are doing it wrong and tells you when you are doing it right.

"He keeps everyone ticking, I think we would have a better chance of beating Man United without Roy. But I am looking forward to the game. If you are going to see how far you have come as a player you want to do it against the best."

How far Charlton have come will be judged in the coming four weeks with a visit to Leicester and a home game against Arsenal on the agenda.

Having lost successive games to Sunderland and Liverpool, and with United in such imperious form, deja vu is surfacing at The Valley. A vibrant start to the Premiership two seasons ago was curtailed by a disastrous winter run and a repeat is threatening.

"After Christmas the league table won't lie, we will know where we stand and what we have to do," said Kinsella.

"This game will show far we have come in two years. It's one of the games you look for at the start of the season, you want to know when you are at home to Man United and it has come around quick."

Kinsella idolised Bryan Robson as a boy. As a man he must get the better of another Old Trafford legend, and one he knows better than most, if Charlton are to pull off a shock.