Roy Keane goes into tonight’s Carling Cup quarter-final against West Brom at Portman Road convinced that he’s capable of turning things around at Town despite the Blues having lost their last four games. The Irishman says he will know when he’s no longer able to bring success to the club he took control of in April 2009.

Keane says he is always analysing his own performance as Blues boss: “I ask myself every day whether I’m capable of turning things round and the answer is yes.

“But it might be tomorrow, it might be Thursday when I think that I’m not the one that can turn things around, then I’ll sit down with the owner and we can have that conversation. But I’ve not felt it’s got to that stage.”

Club owner Marcus Evans and Keane haven’t spoken since Sunday’s 4-1 derby defeat to Norwich City, but the Blues boss says that’s normal: “Our relationship doesn’t work like that, we don’t speak to one another on a daily basis. He lets me get on the job.

“It’s never worked that way. It’s not in my make up, I just try and get on with it and we don’t need texts or emails or phonecalls to know how disappointed everyone at the club will have been. You have to look forward to the next game and look to bounce back.”

The Blues boss is typically honest in his assessment of the club’s recent form but believes things will improve as more senior players return from injury and further additions are made to the squad: “Obviously, I’m not doing a good enough job at the moment.

“The way that things have panned out over the last month or two, in terms of the injuries and suspensions to experienced players, it is costing us. But we’ve got to keep our heads and hang in there and survive over the next few weeks and hopefully we’ll get into January, strengthen our squad and get some of our senior players back.”

Keane says he’s not one to leave football behind him when he goes home: “I think it’s hard to switch off. The day I go home and sleep well or relax after being beaten is the day I’ll get out of the game. Defeats are meant to hurt you. It hurts your pride, you’ve let supporters down.

“I think 4-1 was a bit harsh on the team on Sunday, we took a few gambles with 10 or 15 minutes to go, I have to take responsibility for that, but you want to try and get back in the game. However, the damage was done in the first half.

“You have to get on with it, we were back in on Monday morning and working for the game on Wednesday. And hopefully we can get a good result then.”

Overall though, Keane says he’s coping with the current pressure: “I’m surviving. Just about! It’s part of the job and part of life. An old Irish friend told me not long ago, ‘some days are about surviving, you’ve just got to hang in there’.

“I’ve seen other coaches and managers going through difficult spells and it’s about hanging in there and hopefully things will turn. You might get that bit of luck, someone might score from 30 yards tonight and turn the season around.

“But, if you continue to lose matches, the pressure builds and then ultimately the manager pays the price. That’s the industry we’re in.”

The Town manager feels that injuries to senior players have meant his youngsters have played more of a role than he had hoped: “We’ve been far too dependent on young players who are 18 years of age and learning their trade.

“And that includes the loan players. We’re grateful to the loan players, we were very dependent on loan players last year and it’s the same situation this year.

“If they’re missing, like they are Wednesday, or they get called back, then we’re back to selecting some of our young players, who I think are still learning their trade.

“There’s no hiding place in the Championship. I think the Championship is as hard a place as any for young players to learn their trade.

“If anything, it might be easier for some of our younger boys to be in the Premiership, which sounds mad, but the Championship is all about experience, knowledge and being streetwise.”

When all his senior players are fit, the 39-year-old believes he has a decent side: “I think when we have a full strength team we’re not a bad Championship outfit, but when we’re missing a few of our players, we find it difficult to win football matches.”

The travails of the last two seasons have caused Keane to revise his initial assessment of how long it might take him to return Town to the Premier League: “When you come in and you try and do things in two years, that probably isn’t enough time. I think you need a bit longer but, of course, when you don’t get that, pressure builds.”

Despite players such as Jon Stead having departed in the summer when Keane wanted them to stay and the club failing to land targets like Shaun Derry, the former Manchester United man says his relationship with Marcus Evans is fine: “I’ve no issue with the owner. When I had opportunities in the summer, I shouldn’t have allowed players that I’d been speaking to about joining the club to leave the training ground until they’d signed.

“I’m the manager, it’s my job to try and attract players, although I don’t do the contracts. But I don’t want to go down that road today, it’s not about who we missed out on and what we should have done. That’s all about learning.”

Keane feels that things aren’t immediately going to become easier for his side - who are now 17th in the Championship - starting with this evening’s Carling Cup quarter-final: “The games coming up are as tough as the last few games. West Brom are a very good team, they’ve got a good squad. They’ve bought very well on the back of promotion.

“They’ve used their squad well in the Carling Cup, they had a good result at the weekend and there’s a chance for them to get in the semi-final of the Carling Cup. They’ll come down here and want to do a good job on us.

“No one’s going to do us any favours and when you don’t win football matches - four on the spin now - the pressure builds and the players have to deal with that, be brave in terms of dealing with the ball and cut out the silly mistakes.

“The mistakes we’re talking about are very, very basic and we need to cut them out because it’s costing us.”

Photo: Action Images

s6blue added 08:58 - Dec 1 i dont think you are going to get the chance to
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JetaimePeters added 09:02 - Dec 1 Tonight's team talk: "we've got to keep our heads and hang in there and survive over the next few weeks and hopefully we'll get into January, strengthen our squad and get some of our senior players back." COYB!
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bradforblues added 09:03 - Dec 1 Saying the things we want to hear and it's an honest assessment, but Mr Keane - talk is one thing and doing it on the pitch is another !! Did your Man Utd team mates make these sort of mistakes, did Fergie swap things around as much as you - No - why was that then !!
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Smithy added 09:07 - Dec 1 ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
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corshamblue added 09:08 - Dec 1 Not sure the problem is just RK. Not much of a fan of Cleggy either. Time and Time again RK has asked for certain players that the Board have been unable to bring in (even when transfer fee & wages seemed achievable) The Squad RK has assembled does look decent, 8 Games ago RK was starting to win over even the die hards. So What's changed? A Thrashing at the Scum, and dropping to 17th following a number of defeats! So What's changed? Nothing, a few players out injured and a few new players in. I'd not be so quick to kick RK out of the club, he's months left on a contract and desperate to do well. He said he'd have us up in 2 years, that means at least playoffs this year. If he can't do that then bring someone in next year that can. Turn us round? He should be able to, it was his doing that got us going in the direction to start with! COYB. (Good luck the Young'uns Tonight, Winter Wonder Land ? Not likely!)

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BYRNE_16 added 09:13 - Dec 1 Going to be there tonight to Suppport the TEAM. Come on you Blues & Keano you can do it!
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:17 - Dec 1 You have turned things around Roy ...,we are heading wrong f;cking way !
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Calmingwind added 09:22 - Dec 1 i know its unlikely, but its cup football and you can only hope we get some kind of possitive, good performance tonight. COYB.
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PimsNumber1 added 09:22 - Dec 1 Ha ha dingus !
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Keaneish added 09:27 - Dec 1 Here's an idea, when you need to make a sub, take a little walk up to the north stand and we'll tell you what to do because quite frankly, your decisions are bewildering at the moment. All this may be arbitrary anyway because if you start Eastman at Full-back tonight i'm going to take a walk to the dugout and sack you myself.
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Reuser31 added 09:31 - Dec 1 Rather than "hanging in there" and "hoping for a bit of luck", why not start setting the team up to win matches? COYB
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:38 - Dec 1 Good for you BYRNE16 you can have my Hot Dog,.you can stomache more than me mate, i'll be sitting in warm at home getting pissed on the beer ive been able to buy having decided i cant follow the Keane freak show any further.I have long wanted a good cup run ,hope you are there to see Town pull a shock off.
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whippet added 09:38 - Dec 1 If Eastman is picked at rb once again Keaneish there WILL be a riot. All doom and gloom at the club.Could do with a 1-0 tonight to life the spirits for Saturday (the biggy against Swansea). Can't see it happening. 0-3 to WBA is my guess. rb position will once more be a factor
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TractorRoyNo1 added 09:53 - Dec 1 grow up! whippet added 09:38 - Dec 1 If Eastman is picked at rb once again Keaneish there WILL be a riot.
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Surco72 added 10:00 - Dec 1 if Keane wanted Stead to stay so much when asked what players can the club try to sell by the chairmain why did he put Stead on the transfer list ? I really hope he can turn it around but just cannot see it with his style of play ,it may have suited Sunderland years ago but the Championship has moved on and sides getting promoted and doing well this year are playing football on the ground ,with movement and creativity and we dont look like one of those sides . And really Keane do you think Derry would have made that much difference ? How would he have helped the fact that for most of the season we have only played one up front or without natural full backs ? I like his honesty but most of it just deflects from his inabilties and constantly contradicts his other staements

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SideShow added 10:03 - Dec 1 So Keaneish and Whippet, who do you suppose should play at right back tonight? Zuiverloon? Oh wait nope he's cup tied, erm... nope that's the only out and out right back in the squad. Eastman at least has SOME experience playing there. Unless Keane puts in some from the Youth team, i really don't see another option. But hey, let's hear your two's opinion, because god knows, you people are know SO much about the club...

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Blue_Fred added 10:04 - Dec 1 @Corsham I agree to a point re Clegg - i think he is getting away with doing a very poor job at present, but RK does appear to be making some strange tactical decisions that are not helping him
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naa added 10:09 - Dec 1 So RK yet again talks about signing more players. It's all he's done in his managerial career: buy loads of players, it doesn't work, so buy some more! We have a perfectly good team (lacking in creativity, but that's because RK doesn't believe in having any of that), and we're not performing due to stupid tactics, square pegs in round holes and random subs. And he says we risked things a bit in the last 20 mins on Sunday. Was that when he brought on a defender for a striker? Or when he put an attacking midfielder at right-back? If that's his idea of going for it then I'm more worried than I already was. If he's to show any sign that he's learning his lessons he would start doing two things: 1) putting players in their correct positions 2) letting the players attack more. Clearly, this sitting back, hoofing tactic doesn't work. When we do try to play it on the floor there's no support so it goes nowhere. Unless he does those two things (which I highly doubt he will) he'll never make it as a manager because he can't see when he's wrong. He talks a good game, as always, but his words very rarely translate to action on the pitch. I'd much rather we had a manager who was rubbish in press conferences but knew how to manage a team. But then that wouldn't get ME so much publicity I guess...

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itfc1981 added 10:14 - Dec 1 sold to many players, we have no cover its your own fault
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naa added 10:18 - Dec 1 SideShow: good distraction technique! 1) Eastman is not an 'out and out right-back', he's a young central defender playing way out of his comfort zone and getting stick from the crowd for it (yes, that is rubbish of the crowd, but that's another matter). 2) the only reason we have a sum total of 0 right-backs at the club is Roy Keane. He let David Wright go and never made any effort to replace him (we weren't linked with a single right-back at any point in the summer, not even fancifully. Truly appalling management. Mind you, Peters is still a better right-back than Eastman (though he isn's a right-back either) so why not play him?

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Surco72 added 10:23 - Dec 1 Sideshow .. peters or edwards would both offer more than Eastman , even Colback would be a better option
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Rambert added 10:25 - Dec 1 BULL!
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sonian_blue added 10:28 - Dec 1 You have a high opinion of yourself Keanish, suprised your not a top manager yourself, waiting for the right opening no doubt? Things not good at the moment but I will never boo the team or the manager and believe that WE (the players, manager and those that support) will turn it around. No doubt if we do change manager the same fickle bunch that called for Royles head, Jims and now Keanos will give it a couple of months and will again be unhappy. Weve gone full circle now with comments on here last night that Royle was the man and Jim was doing a decent job!!! Give him his two years and take it from there, it wasnt his mistakes on Sunday that put us on the back foot. COYB Boys

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SideShow added 10:30 - Dec 1 So Naa you know for a fact that he made no effort to bring in another right back do you? Just because it wasn't reported that we were making a move, does not necessarily mean he didn't make an effort. Just saying. I'm not saying "Play Eastman" all i was saying is why should there be a riot if he is played. Peter's, originally a winger, Edwards is a winger, both very attack minded players, surely against a very attacking team like WBA it's best to stick a solid defender in place.

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bobble added 10:34 - Dec 1 blah blah excuse excuse blah blah loss loss loss loss loss loss o-o draw loss blah blah excuse excuse loss loss loss excuse..........................................i think 2 years is quite long enough don't you ?
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