Ex-United player speaks to the Times:
‘Laying on a treatment table next to Roy Keane at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground, Andy Taylor was in a pit of despair. Digesting the news that he may never play again, Taylor’s rise from Exeter schoolboy and United fan to teenage professional at Old Trafford had been stopped in its tracks by a serious knee injury. Then, from Keane, a few words that meant so much.
‘“It’s never over,” Keane told the grief-stricken Taylor. “Stay positive. You can always come back to it.” A midfield player himself, Taylor has long rated Keane among his favourite players, but as he prepares to return with non-league Exeter City to the theatre of his broken dream, for an FA Cup third-round tie tomorrow, his admiration of the United captain extends far beyond his footballing ability.
‘“I admire how he plays, what he does and how he looks after himself, but I also appreciate the advice he gave me when I had my injury and did not think I was going to play again,” Taylor said. “It was nice that he said what he did because the surgeons, physios and people like that were saying to me at the time that it would be better to have a rest from football.
‘“I was gutted and depressed to be told, at that age, that my career might be over and to have someone like him say the opposite gave me hope.”
‘Keane was fresh from the experience of missing most of the 1997-98 season with a knee injury. “He has come back, so giving me the benefit of his experience gave me a lift,” Taylor said. “It has been part of the drive that has got me back to where I am now, playing week in, week out, with no problems.”’