MICK McCARTHY is to study television footage of an alleged head butting incident involving Roy Keane in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Romania in Bucharest. Keane could be in hot water with FIFA if the referee recommends action in his report.

The Manchester United midfielder appeared to butt Romanian striker Viorel Moldovan after an hour of the game. Television replays of the incident were inconclusive, although the players were seen to be pushing each other off the ball when the Romanian suddenly went down clutching his head after Keane had leaned towards him.

Dutch referee Mario van der Ende missed the second half incident as he tried to usher the Romanian defenders back.

McCarthy said: "I did not see the incident - and that's not just a football manager's quote.

"I will have to look at any video replays before making any statement. I just did not see what happened."

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) are more concerned about the report from the referee over an incident in which Crystal Palace midfielder Ray Houghton was felled by a coin thrown from the crowd.

"We will protest in the strongest possible way if the match report does not mention the fact that one of our players was struck by a coin," said FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne.

Houghton had to receive treatment for two minutes, but was eventually able to resume after treatment on a cut on his forehead.

"I didn't see it coming at all. Jeff Kenna spotted a flash and found the coin on the pitch. He gave it to the referee," said Houghton.

Apart from the referee's version of events in a stormy tie which saw eight players booked, much will depend on the report of the FIFA observer.

Keane and the Romanian FA will have to sweat it out until the reports are analysed in Switzerland within the next 10 days.