Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is heaving a sigh of relief at the news that his first choice custodian Shay Given is to return from injury as early as next weekend when the Geordies play mighty Manchester United in the English Premier League. The Republic of Ireland picked up a groin injury against Aston Villa last weekend and was anticipated to miss football for at least 6 weeks but now tests have revealed that he would be back sooner.
Keegan is of course delighted at the news and says:
We will have to assess the situation again next week but Shay’s injury does not look as though it is a bad one. It was an unfortunate one because he did it trying to change direction when Villa scored and he had to come off. We were obviously concerned at first because he was in too much pain to continue, but we are hopeful he will be fit again by the time we play Manchester United next week.
Good news indeed for Keegan. After all, replacing Given in the side for more than a week would be immensely tough for the Toon manager.