West Ham loan striker Robbie Keane can’t play against Spurs, but he is hoping that playing for Ireland will improve his match fitness in time for the United clash.

West Ham loan star Robbie Keane grabbed a goal for the reserves on Tuesday afternoon and now he is plotting the same thing against Manchester United on April 2.

The Hammers impressed against Newcastle at Upton Park with a 4-2 victory, Freddie Sears, Zavon Hines and Cristian Montano adding to Keane’s goal, but more importantly the forward came through the game unscathed.

The Republic of Ireland striker cannot play against parent club Spurs on Saturday, but having recovered from a calf injury, he now plans to play for his country to improve his match fitness.

“The injury is fine,” he said. “It has obviously been frustrating. You come to a new club and you want to play as soon as possible and you get injured.

“It is nice to get back and be able to get another 60 minutes for the reserves. I am looking forward now to pushing on.”

The 30-year-old will do that by playing for Ireland against Macedonia a week on Saturday.

“It is important for me to get in as many games as I can, before I come back and play in the Manchester United match in a few weeks time,” he said.

“Hopefully I will be involved and whatever minutes I play for Ireland will help me to come back to 100 per cent match fitness for the club.”

With Demba Ba, Carlton Cole and Freddie Piquionne all among the goals in recent games, Keane will certainly not be guaranteed a start against United, but he is declaring himself ready to go.

“It would be nice to start, but it’s up to the manager. The lads have been doing tremendously well, so I have to work hard to get back in the team,” he concluded.