Roy Keane showed his disapproval after Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley greeted each other in the tunnel before Luton's clash with Manchester City.
The former Aston Villa team-mates shared a hug and a quick chat before the fifth-round FA Cup tie on Tuesday night. Erling Haaland then joined Grealish in greeting the Luton midfielder before going onto the pitch to plunder five goals in a 6-2 statement thrashing.
The interaction was spotted by ITV host Laura Woods, who asked Keane: “Did you see that there? That was Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley having a little cuddle before the game. What do you think of that?” Keane, who famously clashed with Arsenal's Patrick Vieira in the tunnel, quickly replied: “Not for me, but we're all different.”
That interaction with an old friend was about as good as the night got for Grealish, with an injury striking in the 38th minute. Grealish was forced off with an apparent recurrence of the groin injury that has dogged him of late.
Keane coached Grealish at Villa and responded at half-time with some sympathetic words. "You feel for Jack at this time in the season,” he said. “I've worked with Jack at Villa, he definitely loves the game and it's a setback for him and for City."
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Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright added later: “Yeah, it’s unfortunate. You can see his reaction. To try that pass when coming back from a groin [injury], it’ll really test it. Unfortunately, you can see how upset he is on the bench.
“People don’t realise how devastating it is coming back from injury and then getting injured again because people say ‘did he come back too early?’ but that was a really awkward one for him to try. But he passed himself fit, so you’ve got to try those things. It’s unfortunate. But the team he’s playing in [means] he will have time to get himself right.”
Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish greeted each other in the tunnel (ITV)
The pair had a quick chat (ITV)Aside from the Grealish injury, it was a good night for City, who saw Haaland score five and Kevin De Bruyne register four assists. Pep Guardiola's side are in good form and Keane thinks they are hitting their stride at the right time.
“You look at what they’ve done in the last few years. The players and the managers know, with big games coming up – it’s United at the weekend – the top players smell it,” he said. “This is big stuff now. These players have turned up before, they’re used to it, Pep’s used to it. You saw them tonight, what it meant to them.
“Obviously, it was disappointing with Jack getting injured, but that’s par for the course. He’s on about Haaland and De Bruyne getting up to speed physically, but mentally they’ll be fresh and they looked good tonight. Liverpool and Arsenal are getting a lot of headlines – rightly so, they’re playing some good stuff – but City will take some stopping.”
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