Schmeichel will judge own fitness for derby

Peter Schmeichel will be given the final call on whether he is fit enough for an emotional return to Old Trafford on Sunday. The Dane has missed Manchester City's last three games with a calf injury, but the City manager Kevin Keegan is hoping the veteran goalkeeper will be fit to face his former club after returning to training on Tuesday.

Keegan has nursed the 39-year-old through the campaign so far, but knows his presence will be vital to City's chances of recording their first league double over their neighbours for 33 years.

"You don't really argue with anything Peter says," Keegan said. "He knows when he is not ready to play. He was out training for the first time in a while and, if he doesn't suffer any setbacks, he has a good chance of being fit. But we have thought we were getting him back in the past few weeks and then he has had a setbacks, so we will wait."

Schmeichel missed the three games leading up to the first derby in November, but he returned to lead City to a 3-1 win. He also shrugged off the persistent knee problems that have hampered the latter stages of his career to become one of City's stand-out players this term.

The Ipswich Town chairman David Sheepshanks has paid tribute to the Suffolk club's joint assistant manager Dale Roberts, who has died after a year-long battle against cancer.

Roberts, a popular figure at Portman Road as a player in the 1970s and then a coach, died peacefully in his sleep at home. Sheepshanks said: "I went to visit Dale in hospital at Christmas and last Friday and it was clear he was very ill, but I was left awe-struck by the tremendous sense of inner courage he displayed."

The club captain Matt Holland added: "I can't speak highly enough of Dale as a person. He was a terrific guy who always had a smile on his face and, even though he had been ill for 12 months and must have been in a lot of pain during that time, he would never show it. That showed his strength of character. It was typical of Dale."

Ipswich will have a minute's silence and players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect at the First Division game with their promotion rivals Sheffield United at Portman Road on Saturday.

After making 18 league appearances for Ipswich, where he started his professional career in 1974, Roberts played 153 league games for Hull City. He returned to Portman Road as George Burley's assistant in 1995, having also been No 2 to the Scot at Ayr and Colchester.

Roberts played a pivotal role in the development of the likes of Darren Bent, Darren Ambrose and Matt Richards, who have all made the step up to the first team in recent seasons. He also steered the club to the Premiership Reserve League championship last season.

The Preston defender Colin Murdock has pulled out of Northern Ireland's friendly against Finland on Wednesday because of a knee injury. Manager Sammy McIlroy has drafted in Cheltenham's Michael Duff and he will link up with the rest of the squad on Monday. Duff was named in the squad that faced Cyprus last August and Poland a year ago in friendly matches.