Manchester United must accept Casemiro flaw to uncover modern-day Roy Keane

Casemiro put his head in his gloved hands, received a word of wisdom from teammate Antony and trudged off the Old Trafford pitch early.

It's a familiar feeling for the midfielder who, against Southampton on Sunday, was sent off in successive Premier League home games for United. Talk about Brazilian bite.

By the time he returns to top-flight duty, Casemiro will have missed seven of the last 10 Premier League games. In the remaining three he's been sent off twice and lost the other 7-0 during the Anfield drubbing to Liverpool. It's a lot of matches to miss at a pivotal time of the season with the prospect of more to come given he's one yellow card away from a Europa League ban. The midfielder must survive the second leg against Betis and two quarter-final ties should United complete the job in Spain having built up a 4-1 lead from the first meeting.

READ MORE: Antony and Martinez make their feelings known after Casemiro's red card

His weekend dismissal clearly hindered Erik ten Hag's side in their search for points as the bottom-of-the-table Saints secured a 0-0 draw. The United chief was less than impressed with the officials but stood by his player. "He plays tough but he plays fair," was the Dutchman's assessment.

And while being reduced to 10 men is nobody's idea of a blueprint to victory, to encourage Casemiro to change would defeat the purpose and prevent United from uncovering their modern-day Roy Keane.

A little steel and structure in that midfield is more than welcome after the travails of filling the void in recent years. Casemiro is a ball-winning midfielder, he will commit fouls and he will collect cards. That's part of his game.

It was part of Keane's game too. He was a leader, an Old Trafford great