Friday 3 June 2016 15:41, UK
Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane is hoping to be fit in time to face Sweden in his side's opening match of the European Championship later this month.
Keane was a major doubt for the whole tournament after suffering a thigh injury in training prior to Ireland's 2-1 loss to Belarus on Wednesday evening.
However, the 35 year-old LA Galaxy forward was named in Martin O'Neill's 23-man squad following the defeat in Cork.
Keane now faces a race against time to be fit for Ireland's opening Group E match against Sweden on June 13.
He is not expected to train with the rest of the squad until the middle of next week and, on Friday, he worked out on a mountain bike to keep his fitness levels up. Jonathan Walters (calf) also missed training, but James McCarthy returned to action after a hamstring injury.
"It's never nice when you get injured, certainly at this stage, but lucky for me it's not as bad as I first thought," said Keane, who has scored 67 goals in 143 appearances for his country.
"I thought it was going to be a lot longer. They're saying a couple of weeks so that would get me back in for the Sweden game.
"If not then I'll definitely be ready for the second game. It's bad news but it could have been a lot worse."
Ireland face an uphill task in France this summer, having been placed in the so-called 'Group of Death' along with Sweden, Belgium and Italy.
O'Neill's are due to face the well-fancied Belgians in Bordeaux on June 18 before taking on Antonio Conte's Italy in Lille on June 22.
However, Keane believes his side have a strong chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the competition and hailed the team spirit in the Irish squad.
"We're very lucky here with the lads we have and the spirit that's in the group," he said. "Its always been the same whenever I've been involved with Irish team.
"When you're away from your family and you're with your team it can get frustrating and boring when you're not playing.
"One thing you can say about this group is we have some team spirit that keeps the lads together. It will stand us in good stead going forward.
"I'm certainly looking forward to it - there's a real togetherness. Not just the players but the coaching staff, the backroom staff - people underestimate that.
"They only see the players on the field but its way bigger than that. Everybody keeps everyone together and we're very lucky with that."
