Keane reins in goal celebrations to show respect towards Wolves

Keane’s second-half double enabled Villa to triumph as the on-loan Los Angeles Galaxy striker marked his full debut with two superb strikes in a thrilling encounter.

But even the boos directed towards him by some Wolves fans did not tempt Keane to show any disrespect towards the club where he started his career.

Keane said: “I had wonderful times at Wolves and they are a club that looked after me as a kid.

“I’ll never forget, they did so much for me. I’ve got a lot of friends at the club still and it’s always great to come back.

“I’ll never celebrate if I score against them. I never celebrate when I score against any of my former clubs out of respect.

“But you have to be professional, do the job for the team that you are with, and that’s Aston Villa.

“You have to put everything to one side and concentrate on your own job.”

Keane looked sharp in his first start since the conclusion of the Major League Soccer campaign.

He said: “I feel good, I feel sharp, this was my first game since December 7.

“I’ve felt good the last few weeks in training. I’m feeling sharper and sharper and you saw that against Wolves.

“As a striker, I’m judged on goals, but the most important thing is the three points for the team and helping the team push up the league.

“I’m only here for a short time so if I can help in any way possible, then great.”

Wolves have now slipped into the bottom three for the first time this season and manager Mick McCarthy felt midfielder Karl Henry’s straight red card was the turning point.

Former captain Henry will miss the games with Liverpool, QPR and West Brom through suspension after kicking out at Villa winger Marc Albrighton when the score was 2-2.

McCarthy said: “The sending-off has cost us the game. I have no complaints about the sending-off.

“Karl was fouled beforehand but that doesn’t excuse him kicking out. It’s downright daft and it cost us the game, certainly. It was stupid.”

McCarthy is also waiting for a fitness update regarding on-loan Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, who went to hospital after suffering an eye injury.

He was accidentally kicked in the face by Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov.