'I worked with Roy Keane – some of the stories about him are absolute rubbish'

Ex-Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed what Roy Keane was really like to work with – claiming some stories of the Manchester United legend's behaviour are "absolute b*******s".

During his time at Villa Park, Lambert convinced Keane to join as his second-in-command in 2014. Although Keane only stuck around for a brief four months, they forged a firm bond – and Lambert dismissed any claims about Keane's unflattering dressing room persona.

Lambert appeared on the Undr the Cosh podcast to chat about Keane's influence, saying: "I'll tell you Roy's brilliant, and I think he's brilliant because he's a realist of the game and he knows the pitfalls and all that of being a manager. He knows exactly what it's like to have a dressing room, good or bad, doesn't matter, a top player in his day."

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Chris Brown, former professional footballer and co-host of the podcast, questioned Lambert on how Keane measured up as an assistant, given that deputies tend to be more positive and tell players "what they want to hear". He added: "I can't imagine Roy being like that."

But Lambert defended the ex-United midfielder, dismissing any statements of Keane's supposed bad attitude in the dressing room. He said: "He was no bother! I hear all the stories that people didn't like him and all that - maybe some did, maybe some didn't - I hear some total fabrication of what he was like in the dressing room."

"Absolute b*******s some of it, it really is b*******s. People say things to make themselves look good, Roy was never like that."

Keane has always