Alex Ferguson is more determined than ever that Manchester United will reach the Champions League final in Glasgow on 15 May - for the injured Roy Keane.

'There is now a cause for us to fight for - to get Keane to that final,' said Ferguson. 'He got us there in the [1999] semi-final in Turin. It was his performance that brought us through that night. He knew he wouldn't be able to play in the final after 17 minutes when he got booked. He had to play for an hour and a quarter knowing he wouldn't be playing in the final, and hopefully the players can do it for him this time.'

Keane's torn hamstring will keep him out for the rest of April. 'Nobody can minimise the role that Roy plays at this club,' said Ferguson. 'He is the biggest influence on the team, no question. But players can emerge as a result of that. That is a point I have been making about Nicky Butt: he could be our most important player. He was our star man in Spain on Tuesday night because he had the key role, but he managed to keep Valeron quiet. He was superb. He has the mental part right in so far as he knows when he goes out of the team that he will be coming back at some stage.'

The Deportivo coach, Javier Irureta, believes an early goal could make all the difference on Wednesday. 'It will be very difficult to overcome this result, but there is no reason why we should not believe we can. We can go there and win by the same 2-0 scoreline. If we score an early goal, or at least during the first half, then we will have a chance. 'We lacked depth in the home leg and did not use the wings enough, and we only tried to get past them through the middle, which is very difficult against United because their defence is very tight in the centre.'

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