ROY Keane admits that he has had the “luck of the Irish” all his life.

ROY Keane admits that he has had the “luck of the Irish” all his life.

Keane was expressing his sadness on hearing the news that Paulo Sousa had lost his job yesterday, after less than three months in charge of Leicester City.

And the Irishman was quick to compare the former Portuguese midfielder’s misfortune, with his own good fortune from 12 months ago.

The chances are, if Leicester supremo Milan Mandaric rather than Marcus Evans had been pulling the strings at Portman Road, then Keane would have been axed within the first few months of last season, when Town failed to win any of their first 15 league games.

“I’ve been very lucky. I’ve been lucky all my life,” insisted Keane ahead of today’s home game against Leeds United.

“People have always tended to give me that extra bit of breathing space, and that extra bit of time to get things right.

“I was fortunate last year, because the way we started the season, obviously there was pressure on me that I could have lost my job.

“But I haven’t. The people around this club are intelligent people. They knew it was right to keep me in the job!” added Keane wryly.

Sousa became the 14th Leicester City manager to lose his job since 2004, and the sixth since Mandaric became chairman.

The Foxes are bottom of the Championship, having been beaten 4-3 at Norwich City on Tuesday night.

Keane rued: “Paulo (Sousa) is a really good manager and I had a lot of time for him.

“It’s unfortunate, but we all know that managers don’t seem to get that extra bit of time to turn things around.

“Luckily, I had that last year when we had a really poor start. You need a break with the people you’re working with, and I got that bit of luck and a break last year.

“I always thought we’d get it right, and you just hope you are given the chance,” added Keane.

Town will be without midfielders Luke Hyam and David Norris, both due to suspension, for today’s visit of Leeds, who suffered a confidence-sapping 6-4 home defeat to Preston in midweek.