The Professional Footballers' Association chief executive in England, Gordon Taylor, does not want to see burly minders used to take care of players despite Monday evening's bar incident involving Roy Keane.

Taylor is determined to ensure there is no over-reaction following the altercation that saw the Manchester United captain spend the night in police cells.

Two women accused Keane, who was toasting his side's Premiership title success with his team-mates, of lashing out at them in the bar after a heated exchange, though the mid-fielder denies any offence.

However, Taylor insisted: "You can't have bodyguards for players. They're advised to be careful whenever they are in public places."

The Republic of Ireland have made giant strides, moving up six places in FIFA's new world rankings to 38. But England have moved down one place to 11 while Northern Ireland and Wales remain in 69th and 82nd spots respectively.

Scotland have shot up to 21st place their highest-ever slot.

Rankings: last month's ranking, points) 1. (1) Bazil 817 points; 2. (2) France 785; 3. (3) Germany 742; 4. (4) Italy 740; 5. (5) Czech Republic 736; 6. (6) Croatia 730; 7. (7) Argentina 729; 8. (8) Spain 724; 9. (9) Netherlands 703; 10. (11) Romania 701; 11. (10) England 695. Others: 21. (28) Scotland 603. 38. (44) Republic of Ireland.

English coach Roy Hodgson, a front-runner to take over as Australia manager, will lead a FIFA World Stars XI against his possible future side in a match to mark the opening of Sydney's Olympic Stadium on June 12th. FIFA said yesterday that Hodgson, the former Swiss national boss now serving as stand-in coach at Inter Milan, had confirmed orally that he would lead the FIFA team alongside Tahiti's Richard Vansam.

Arsenal shrugged off the disappointment of finishing runners-up in the Premiership title race to beat Malaysia 2-0 in a friendly match.