I've been letting down United: Keane

Manchester United captain Roy Keane has admitted that his team mates have been "carrying him" as he battles to get fully fit.

The Ireland midfielder has just returned from a month on the sidelines with a persistent knee injury, but he is unable to train properly.

"I'd not been training properly and not playing well," he was quoted as saying in Thursday's Daily Mirror newspaper.

"I don't want to use excuses because at the end of the day, it's up to myself.

"I know I shouldn't go out onto the pitch unless I'm fit. And by not performing well I feel I have let down myself, the manager, the fans, but most important of all my team mates.

"You can't be carrying anybody and I think the lads have been carrying me. So I need to take a step back and get myself right."

Keane missed five United games and Ireland's second leg World Cup playoff against Iran earlier this month because of the problem.

But after returning to help United beat Leicester City 2-0 in the premier league last weekend, he was again instrumental as the English champions secured a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Keane added: "I needed to get myself properly fit because I'd been cutting corners recently in training because of my injuries.

"I know that I've not been 100 percent. I set myself high standards and if I don't reach them I can be critical of myself."

Keane believes his side's draw with European champions Bayern is proof they are still capable of competing at the highest level.

"We've not been playing well, but the performance against Bayern gave us a lot of encouragement," the 30-year-old said.

"We have to accept the criticism because we haven't been performing and results have shown that. But the time to judge us is at the end of the season. If we were firing on all cylinders already, I'd be pretty worried.

"I expect us to get more fired up in the second half of the season when the games become that bit more important."