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KEANE ON TO A WINNER WITH JONES BOOST

Kenwyne Jones: Good recovery

Thursday August 7,2008

By Niall Hickman

Sunderland manager Roy Keane was expecting Kenwyne Jones to be out of action all season only to be told that he should now be ready to return in October.

Keane could barely disguise his satisfaction yesterday when he discovered that striker Jones, very much the heartbeat of his side last season, should only miss the first two months of the new campaign following a knee injury which did not require major cartilage surgery.

Jones, who was hurt in a clash with England’s David James in a friendly match for Trinidad & Tobago three months ago, only scored seven times for Sunderland but his overall impact far exceeded his modest goals tally.

Keane said: “He should be up and running in six to eight weeks and there will be no fussing, he will be straight back in [the team]. Unless there are any major problems with his recovery, he should be available quite quickly after that.

He should be up and running in six to eight weeks

Roy Keane

“Kenwyne is a big man and sometimes it’s harder for the big men to get up and running. I’ve played with big men – Gary Pallister, Stan Varga – and sometimes it’s harder for them to get back into it.

“It can take them an extra week or two to get everything moving again but we have seen Kenwyne and he is walking about on the training pitch.

“We do miss him. We miss his physical presence on the training pitch and we also miss his character. He’s a bubbly lad, so we miss him all round.

“We’re conscious that there is an international break in about eight weeks’ time. If I can bring in another striker, it will lessen the need to throw Kenwyne back in straight away. He is looking to be back in October, but we won’t put him in for one game if there is a 10-day break straight after.

“The most important thing is that everything goes to plan. It’s like any player who has had knee surgery, in that his cartilage needs tidying up.”

Jones was such a massive presence last season that Keane admits his absence will be difficult for other players.

“You try not to let it affect your mindset,” he said. “Other clubs get injuries and we had them last season. Will he have a big impact on us when he comes back? You bet your life he will because he is a good player.

“I know people will say he only scored a few goals but, my goodness, he did a lot of other stuff for the team. He got a lot of assists and I remember him knocking one or two top centre-halves over last year and giving them a tough game.

“We have to give Kenwyne more support and, hopefully, that process will continue over the next couple of weeks in the transfer market. We didn’t get enough quality balls into the box last year for him so, when Kenwyne gets back, he will get better service.”

Keane has already signed six players this summer for a figure just short of £20million, but he says the spending is not over.

“No matter what happened to Kenwyne, I was on the lookout for a top striker anyway. That has not changed,” he said.

“There are three positions I believe we need strengthening and we are working very hard on that. We are not going to beg any player to come to the club. If they want to come, fantastic; this is a fantastic club. If not, then we will focus on the players we have.”

Keane shortened the pitch for the game with Ajax on Sunday and, without Jones, he admits he may move the goalposts again when the season starts.

“It was something different. When Kenwyne comes back, we’ll make it [the pitch] bigger again. It was slightly tighter. I know Cloughy [Brian Clough] was meant to have flooded the pitch at Forest once.

“Once the pitch is set in size for the season that’s it. Years ago you could [change it], but once our pitch is set that’s it.”