Keane and McCarthy end World Cup feud

The Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy and his Sunderland counterpart, Roy Keane, have made up their differences after their World Cup spat in 2002.

McCarthy was the Republic of Ireland manager when the midfielder Keane was thrown out of the team camp at the finals. Keane has since retired from playing and is now in charge at the Stadium of Light.

McCarthy said: "I wanted to enquire about a couple of players and I always believe that you should speak to the manager direct. That's no different with Roy now he is manager at Sunderland, so I picked up the phone and he accepted the call. We both felt it was the right time to talk and it was a cordial conversation.

"We chatted about the players and a couple of other things that will remain private. It's been four years now and it should be put to bed. The only two people who weren't getting anything out of it were me and Roy. It's the media that drives it on and we've both got difficult enough jobs without others putting spanners in."

Wolves, who face Sunderland at Molineux on 24 November, could have the Black Cats defender Neill Collins in their line-up. McCarthy is closing in on a loan deal for the former Scotland Under-21 defender whom he signed from Dumbarton in 2004 when in charge at Sunderland.