Paul Hince in the MEN lazily rehashes the Sunday Express story that Keane will lose the skipper's armband on his return. Apparently:
"The push on his own team-mate, Phil Neville, during the Premiership match at Sunderland was seen by many as an indication that Keane was becoming increasingly irritable and frustrated by the pressures of being the Old Trafford skipper.
"The Reds boss might decide that relieving his inspirational midfielder of the burdens of captaincy when he recovers his fitness would help Keane to concentrate solely on his own game."
YAWWWWNN.
Ole:
"Five wins in a row is the start of a good run and the next game before the international break becomes massively important for us.
"We really can't afford to lose any more points in the league but our form in Europe has lifted everybody. It's always nice to have those games to look forward to and when you start winning games, it makes you feel you are back on track again.
"The Leverkusen game away from home was a massive win for us. It was United's first win in Germany for 37 years and obviously it was a milestone for us. It's not up to us to rate ourselves amongst the best or tell everyone that, we just have to show it on the pitch. I think at our best we can beat anyone."
Fergie compares Rio with Pallister:
"Gary didn't need to foul anyone. He was so quick and mobile that he always got out of situations and Rio's much the same. His pace and his reading of the game are such that he doesn't need to foul people really.
"Gary very seldom got booked. If I remember, he actually got sent off at Bolton. The referee was Paul Durkin who cancelled it out after the game.
"We need a central partnership that's going to play for five or six years together.
"Now we've got Rio Ferdinand, that part's looking good. And we feel that in John O'Shea and Wes Brown we've got two young centre-backs who are going to emerge. All we need Wes to do is to stay clear of injuries. He's had a terrible time but the potential of him is enormous, as is John O'Shea's."
Manchester United's reserves beat their Manchester City counterparts 1-0 in the Senior Cup at Altrincham last night.
United fielded a side which included first-team fringe players Quinton Fortune, David May, Michael Stewart and goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
Ben Muirhead scored the only goal of the game.