Roy Keane receives apology after spiky clash with Daniel Sturridge over Michael Carrick

Roy Keane and Daniel Sturridge clashed while discussing Michael Carrick ahead of Manchester United's home encounter with Liverpool . The former United skipper and ex-Reds striker were both working as pundits for Sky Sports before Carrick's team faced the reigning Premier League champions. With United currently occupying third spot, many are starting to suggest Carrick should be offered the role on a permanent basis. Victory for the Reds would secure their Champions League qualification, something few could have predicted when Ruben Amorim was dismissed at the beginning of the year. Prior to kick-off, Sturridge and Keane discussed the prospect of the former midfielder being appointed permanently. Yet their lively discussion turned tense when Sturridge interrupted the former Reds skipper on multiple occasions. The exchange started with Keane saying: "They have produced and we go back to the start of his time, beating Man City and Arsenal . That gave a lot of belief and confidence in the group, and what they have shown is that goal threat. "They have had their setbacks, up at Newcastle , the Leeds game here, but they have bounced back well. So they obviously have a decent momentum and there is a decent feel in the group. But this is the next test for them today. FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page "We mentioned it earlier, I think this will have a big bearing on, if they can get a good result today, whether he gets the job or not. I know you shouldn't just focus on the one game, but I think the emotional side of it. "I think if they can get a good positive performance today, I think that is a big step in him getting the job permanently. There's a lot of PR, there's a lot pf push for him. He's a young English coach, a lot of media onside for him pushing him. The people who work for Man United, the PR machine is working hard to ty and get him in the job." Clearly puzzled by that final remark, Sturridge cut in and pointedly demanded "All right Roy, what PR," to which Keane curtly fired back: "Do you want me to finish," prompting Sturridge to retort: "You keep saying PR, PR," before the Irishman once again snapped back: "There's a lot of PR toward him, if you just let me finish." The tense and fractious exchange concluded with Sturridge backing down, saying: "I had to interject, I apologise." By contrast, Gary Neville said: "I've been on the record about Michael in terms of whether he should get the job or not. What I would say is, I am unsure. "But my gut feeling was, before he got the job, was that Manchester United should go out and appoint a world class manager and the very best that they can, who has a body of work with the Champions League and experience winning league title, and Michael obviously doesn't have that. "He's been at Middlesbrough, learning his trade, so I don't think we are on a different page to that. What I would say is, 'Who is out there?' that's the question everybody asks, right now, that's available who can come in and takeover from Michael. What he has done is settle the club down on the pitch." The relationship between Carrick and Keane is far from warm. A dozen years ago, Keane took aim at Carrick's performance in a loss to Olympiakos, which prompted the United interim manager's wife Lisa to post on social media, " Roy Keane what a ****, says anything to get a reaction. That's all done," before swiftly deleting the message. During an episode of the Overlap earlier this year, Keane made it abundantly clear the comment had not been forgotten, remarking: "His (Carrick's) wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn't do well], cause she's got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She's probably doing the team talk." Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football . We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice