Sport

Keane named Player of the Month

SOCCER NEWS:  IT MAY not have been the honour that was top of his target list when he headed to Scotland at the end of the January…

EMMET MALONE Soccer correspondent
Tue Apr 13 2010 - 01:00

SOCCER NEWS: IT MAY not have been the honour that was top of his target list when he headed to Scotland at the end of the January transfer window but Robbie Keane was yesterday named as the SPL Player of the Month for March after scoring five goals in four league games during that period for Celtic.

The Ireland skipper’s new club continues to endure a miserable season with Saturday’s shock cup defeat by Ross County and the impending confirmation of Rangers’ title success making for a grim atmosphere amongst fans but the award is some recognition of the positive performances turned in by the Dubliner.

His Ireland team-mate Stephen Hunt, meanwhile, may have played for the last time this season with the Hull City midfielder expected to find out this morning whether a foot injury that has been troubling him since February is significantly more serious than had originally been thought.

“He’s got a sharp pain in his foot again,” revealed manager Iain Dowie in the wake of the weekend’s surprise home defeat by relegation rivals Burnley, “and we need to have a look at it in an operation. If he needs a procedure then it’s going to be a lot longer but if everything is fine and we can move on, it might not be that long.”

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Despite an impressive recent run of form, Kevin Doyle still reckons that Wolves need to win another couple of games before they can stop worrying about relegation.

Sunday’s scoreless draw with Stoke City has left Mick McCarthy’s side six points clear of Burnley and Hull in 14th place. But the Wexford man insists that another six points are required before the team can stop looking over their shoulders.

“We have put ourselves in a very good position and in the last two months we’ve really turned the corner,” he says. “We’ve got ourselves out of the bottom three and we are two wins away from being able to relax and enjoy it. It depends what the other teams do but if we just do our own job, get two wins, I am sure we will be fine.

“We have to keep on our toes, keep training hard and if we do that, we will be fine.”