Roy Keane Will Benefit From Aston Villa Role, Says Martin O'Neill

Roy Keane can boost his credentials during his spell at Aston Villa, Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill believes.

Former Manchester United and Celtic captain Keane was named as Villa manager Paul Lambert's assistant earlier this month.

The 42-year-old will combine the the Premier League role with assisting O'Neill as Ireland manager as he looks to rebuild his managerial career following a difficult spell as Ipswich manager.

O'Neill reckons Keane can thrive working alongside Lambert at Villa Park.

"My view is if it doesn't impinge on the job here with Ireland, then in actual fact it will end up being good for him," O'Neill told the Irish Independent.

"I know that if we couldn't have made it work, he wouldn't have taken the job in the first place.

"If his commitments to us – both on the commercial side and certainly from my viewpoint in terms of the time working with players – is not impinged at all, then I'm happy for it to go ahead, genuinely happy.

"Villa has agreed to give him all that time with us and therefore I don't really have a problem with it. I spoke with Paul to see how he felt it was going to work."

One of the first tasks facing Lambert this summer is tying down central defender Ron Flaar. The 29-year-old Netherlands international impressed at the World Cup and managed to keep Lionel Messi and Argentina at bay for 120 minutes during the two nations' semi-final.

Vlaar has just one year remaining on his contract and could walk away from Villa next summer for free.

The Birmingham club has been busy so far this summer, already recruiting Joe Cole, Philippe Senderos and Fulham's Kieran Richardson.

Villa also hopes to add Sunderland's Ki Sung-yueng to its ranks in a deal worth a reported £6m.