Robbie Keane has said that he understood Martin O'Neill's decision to relegate him to the bench in the Republic of Ireland's 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying loss to Scotland.
Prior to the game at Celtic Park, Keane had started every single Ireland game for which he had been fit for the last 13 years, but O'Neill opted to play Shane Long as the side's only striker last night.
Although Keane only came on for the final 12 minutes of the match, the 34-year-old has admitted that it was probably the right decision to start with Long.
He told ITV Sport: "If the manager wants to play with one up front, I'm not Niall Quinn or I'm not Shane Long - they are better at that than I am. If you play two up front and you want to score goals, that's my game.
"Listen, I'd prefer to speak about the team rather than an individual, making a big deal out of someone else starting the game.
"The manager made a decision and you have to respect that. Playing one up front doesn't suit me, I think that's fairly obvious. I'm 5'10", so it's not my game."
Keane is Ireland's all-time record goalscorer, with 65 goals in 135 appearances.
Kristian Johnson
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