Republic of Ireland assistant coach Roy Keane has likened Everton wing-back Seamus Coleman to Manchester United teammate Denis Irwin.

Coleman has not played for his club this season because of an ankle injury and is fighting to be fit for Monday night's opening World Cup qualifier in Serbia, but assistant manager Keane is confident he will have a big role to play in the coming years.

He said: "I think he leads. Would I compare him to Denis Irwin? I don't mean in the football sense, but the way Denis played. Denis led by being a brilliant player and Seamus Coleman is the same type of player.

"He leads by the way he plays, and that's by being a brilliant player and a good lad. He doesn't look like he gets too high one way and too low the other, he's just a real Steady Eddie - and I mean that in the nicest possible way, just like Denis was.

'Just the fact that I'm talking in the same breath as Denis Irwin tells you what I think of Seamus. I don't do that with many players, not in terms of comparing them to Denis."