Roy Keane has admitted he flew home halfway though the World Cup after the pundits he was working with started to 'get on his nerves'.
The Manchester United legend is working for UK broadcaster ITV during the month-long tournament in Qatar. He has featured heavily in their coverage so far, with the World Cup now entering the quarter-final stage.
Keane has been joined by Gary Neville, Graeme Souness, Joe Cole and Nigel de Jong, among others, on the channel. He has also linked up with Neville and BBC pundit Micah Richards for a series of programmes for Sky Bet discussing the tournament.
In the latest episode of that programme, which was released by the betting company on Thursday, Keane admitted he had flown home. He revealed he travelled back to his Manchester home due to his relationships with the other pundits.
"I think it's been OK. It's not been bad. Even if you're not working, gone to one or two games just as a football fan. We've been here three weeks remember. It's been fine," he said when Richards asked how he had found the tournament.
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Neville interjected: "Roy went home for four or five days as well actually. Went back." Keane then explained: "I had a break. I needed a break. My tolerance levels [were starting to go]. People getting on my nerves."
Richards then asked: "Name names, who was getting on your nerves?"
But Keane refused to divulge who had been annoying him. He said: "How long have we got? How long have we got? Fellow pundits. I had a break."
Neville insisted he was not one of the pundits Keane had an issue with. He said: "It wasn't me though.
"I can see when the tank's filling up, it's like one of those challenges in I'm a Celebrity Micah with Roy. You can see when the tank's coming up to his head. You've got to get out of there."
Keane jokingly hit back by saying: "You're very cruel." Though he did not reveal who he had fallen out with, Keane has had a number of bust-ups during the tournament so far.
The first came in the very first game that he covered, arguing with Souness over a penalty Argentina had been awarded during their defeat to Croatia. Souness had insisted the decision to award the spot-kick was correct, with Keane disagreeing.
Their exchange ended in a fierce rebuttal from Souness, who said: "Let someone else speak." Keane replied: "Go ahead."
Souness then added: "You learn a lot more if you listen than talk all the time." Keane again replied "Go ahead, go ahead," but the pair were clearly frustrated by the whole incident.
