"If you look at the players in the England midfield, I would have to say Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes are by far the best midfielders and are consistent in what they bring to their teams," Keano said. "To me they are the three probably most outstanding midfielders, not just in England but probably in Europe, there are some good midfielders at Barcelona as well, but I would say those three."
Roy singled Gerrard out for extra praise, "He is an outstanding player, he has had enough compliments over the years. It helps when you are on a winning team and I think Liverpool probably aren't playing as well as they can. It is a lot of pressure on one player when you think Liverpool is a big club. It is a bit unfair on him and I think sometimes when he is not playing particularly well the team suffers.
"Whereas I am on a team where, especially with the system we play at the moment, I have two lads on either side of me that can do a lot of running for me.”
Keane also played down the praise he received for his performances recently, “When you analyse those games, I don’t think I did as well as people think I have. But when you’re playing the Liverpools and Arsenals, if you’re not up for those games there’s something wrong.
“They’re the games you look forward to and judge yourself on. We’ve got more tough games to come. We’ve got a tough game against Everton in the FA Cup and then AC Milan, one of the best teams in the world. They’re the challenges that lie ahead. We had a slow start to the season and are playing catch-up but we’ll keep going. If they’re going to win the title let’s try and make them win it in the last week, not with four weeks to go.”