United count cost of victory

Captain Roy Keane is expected to miss Manchester United FC's remaining UEFA Champions League second group stage fixtures after damaging a hamstring in last night's 2-1 Premiership victory against Leeds United AFC.

Verón scan
Sir Alex Ferguson's side moved to within five points of leaders Arsenal FC with Wednesday's narrow win at Old Trafford but several of his squad finished the match hobbling. Argentinian midfield player Juan Sebastián Verón is due to have a scan on the ankle injury which forced him to come off after 56 minutes, while defender Mikaël Silvestre, who scored the winning goal, and midfield player Quinton Fortune also picked up knocks.

'Limping bodies'
"Seba [Verón] and Roy Keane have got sore ones," said Sir Alex. "Roy has got a hamstring injury. The intention was to bring him off five minutes after half-time but he wouldn't come off - typical Roy." The Scot said there were "a lot of limping bodies" against Leeds following Sunday's draining League Cup final defeat against Liverpool. But Sir Alex praised his side's determination to grind out a result that keeps alive their hopes of catching Arsenal.

Weekend off
The United squad at least have the comfort of a weekend off before they entertain Swiss champions FC Basel at Old Trafford in Wednesday's Group D match. With four wins out of four, including last week's stunning 3-0 victory at Juventus FC, United have already won the section to qualify for the quarter-finals for the seventh year in succession.

Hip surgery
Keane, who has already missed three-and-a-half months of the season due to hip surgery, seems likely to miss United's next two Premiership games at Aston Villa FC on 15 March and at home against Fulham FC the following week. The 1999 Champions League winners end the second group stage with a trip to RC Deportivo La Coruña on 18 March.