Robbie Keane will be out to show Alex Ferguson what he missed when Coventry entertain Manchester United tonight, and there will be no better opportunity for Keane, who signed from Wolves for £6 million last week, to let his feet do the talking.
The United boss was at one point interested in signing the 19-year-old, but was put off by the asking price. "At £6 million, I would not go near him," Ferguson said. "If he was £500,000 and could spend some time in our second team, I might have a look."
Keane's Premiership baptism last weekend could hardly have been better when he scored both goals in Coventry's 2-0 win over Derby.
Asked about Ferguson's comment, the Irish international said: "I don't want to say anything about that. I admire and respect Mr Ferguson for what he has achieved in football. He is a great manager.
"But I can't wait for the match. That's why I wanted to play in the Premier League - to play the Man Uniteds and the Liverpools. I can't wait.
"My confidence is sky-high at the moment. The team spirit here is brilliant. Obviously the game is a bit quicker - it's a fast pace and you're up against international players all the time - but I think I adapted all right."
Coventry manager Gordon Strachan also relishes the prospect of crossing swords with Ferguson, who criticised him in his recent autobiography.
"I have slept easy," said Strachan, a former United player. "My team is ready and we have some good players. The Moroccans Mustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo are looking forward to it. The reason they came to play in England was to take part in games like this.
"The same goes for Robbie Keane. He set a high standard with two goals on his debut against Derby County on Saturday and it would be unrealistic to expect him to maintain that level of return.
"But I was not surprised by his display. He may be 19-years-old but he has the football brain of a 30-year-old and the maturity to match."
McCall's gunning for Gunners
By Ian Parkes, PA Sport Meanwhile, Bradford captain Stuart McCall is poised for a dramatic return to first-team football for tonight's clash against Arsenal. McCall has been on the sidelines since the end of June after operations on an Achilles tendon and for a hernia in the same week.
The 35-year-old midfielder missed the entire pre-season build-up, which included the trip to the Caribbean island of St Kitts.
McCall had originally pencilled himself in to return for the match at home to Tottenham on September 12th, but manager Paul Jewell may need him at Highbury.
With Neil Redfearn (ankle) and Gareth Whalley (knee) struggling to be fit, Jewell could turn to McCall as Bradford look to avoid an Arsenal backlash following their 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday.
Arsene Wenger and centre-back Martin Keown have both apparently claimed Bradford will be frightened for the game as Arsenal look to bounce back themselves from a weekend defeat.
Jewell, however, strongly disputes such an accusation. He added: "Somebody has told me that both Arsene Wenger and Martin Keown have said we won't look forward to going there after their defeat.
"So let's go and try to prove them wrong. If you're going to be in with the big boys you can't be frightened of them.
"We went through a lot of hard work last year to get to this situation, so let's go down there and not be frightened.
"We can't be in awe of them. They are a good side, no doubt about that, but we're still in the same league as them.
"If any of my players are in awe then they shouldn't be. We're forever driving into them that they're where they deserve to be. Let's prove it."
