Neil Warnock: 'Roy is Roy' and 'Harry wants to play for Ireland again'
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock believes Harry Arter will patch up his differences with Roy Keane and play for the Republic of Ireland again.
A leaked WhatsApp message, spoken by Burnley's Stephen Ward, detailed a bust-up between on-loan Cardiff midfielder Arter and Jonathan Walters and Republic assistant manager Keane.
Arter declared himself unavailable for Ireland's games against Wales and Poland during the international break but Warnock said: “Harry wants to play for Ireland and I’m sure it will all be ironed out.
“I spoke to Harry about the situation and my advice to him was to get on with his football. He loves his country and he wants to play for them again.
“We are talking about grown-up people and I’m sure it is an issue that will be resolved. I’m not sure what happened and Harry can only tell me certain things.
“From a selfish point of view I was quite happy he didn’t go away during the international break, but you get rows like this a lot of the time.
“I had two players trying to kill each other the other day, so you get it everywhere. Little things spark things off in training. I don’t know what was said, or how it was said, but I’m sure there are lessons to be learned by everybody."
"I’m sure Martin will make sure this will be sorted in the next few weeks. “Martin doesn’t need me to tell him that Harry is a good player to have in his squad.”
In the leaked WhatsApp message, Ward said Keane had accused Arter and Walters of not doing enough training while on international duty with the Republic in May.
Warnock said: "The one thing you can't complain about (with) Harry is training. He trains too much and I have to curb him at times because he trains like he plays.
"He gets booked every game! I don't see his training being an issue."
Keane’s position has come under scrutiny after the offensive language he used towards Arter was revealed.
The midfielder is one of the few players available to O’Neill who is playing regularly in the Premier League, but Warnock believes the criticism of Keane is not totally deserved.
The veteran Bluebirds boss said: “Roy is Roy, isn't he? When I got the sack at Sheffield United the only guy who spoke to me was Roy. I will never forget that. I thought that was a bit of class.
“He gets tainted with a lot of things. I’m not saying he is perfect because he isn’t, but I’m sure Roy will deal with this situation in the right way in the cold light of day.”
