KEANE TESTIMONIAL DATE

Manchester United have agreed a provisional date for a testimonial that will bring Roy Keane into contact with Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time since their acrimonious fallout. The game is slotted for May 9, though, as always with Keane, things are not entirely straightforward.

Keane is yet to tell United whether he will accept the club's invitation to bring a Celtic XI to Old Trafford for a match that would go a long way to determining whether the damage to his relationship with Ferguson is irreparable. The two men have not spoken since Ferguson orchestrated Keane's departure from Old Trafford in November, having fallen out over his infamous interview on MUTV.

United's chief executive David Gill yesterday said the player's solicitor Michael Kennedy had requested a date for the testimonial soon after Keane joined Celtic. The Old Trafford board took this to mean Keane wanted to accept the club's offer and, having consulted Ferguson, they suggested May 9, two days after the final Premiership match of the season. Since then, however, there has been no contact from the Keane camp and no clues whether a man defiantly free of sentimentality still intends to return to the club he served for 12 years to say goodbye. Celtic already have a testimonial planned for the same week, with Keane due to face his old foe Alan Shearer on May 11.

United is somewhat bemused that the 34-year-old is keeping them hanging on when there is only eight weeks to arrange the match. "We've given them a date and it would be nice if it could happen," said Gill. "Everyone at the club, particularly the supporters, would like to pay tribute to Roy after everything he's done for us."