Roy Keane ‘confirms his interest in becoming Hibernian’s next manager’

Roy Keane has reportedly stepped up his quest to return to management by declaring his interest to Hibernian over their vacant role.

The Scottish side are currently on the lookout for a new boss ahead of next season following the sacking of Shaun Maloney on April 19.

And according to The Sun, Keane’s representatives have made contact with Hibs to confirm his interest in taking over the Easter Road hotseat.

Keane has not been the No 1 in the dugout since 2011, when he was dismissed at Ipswich

The 50-year-old hasn’t been a No 1 since being sacked by Ipswich Town in January 2011 but is keen to lead a club forward.

Since his dismissal at Ipswich, Keane has been an assistant to Martin O’Neill with the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest, and was Paul Lambert’s No 2 at Aston Villa.

The Manchester United legend, who was interviewed for the Sunderland job in February, is currently a TV pundit but is ready to swap that for the dugout.

If he was to be appointed Hibernian manager, he’d be replacing ex-Celtic team-mate Shaun Maloney who was sacked after four months in charge.

Maloney departed in the wake of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by bitter rivals Hearts.

Shaun Maloney was sacked as manager of Hibernian after just four months in charge

The 39-year-old’s axing followed Jack Ross’ sacking in December, He got the boot despite leading Hibs to the League Cup final amid a poor run in the league.

Former skipper David Gray is taking caretaker charge for the remainder of the season with support from Eddie May and Jon Busch.

Speaking about his next managerial appointment, Hibs owner Ron Gordon said he’s likely to go with a more experienced gaffer after rookie Maloney lasted only 120 days.

‘I don’t know if we can take that risk again (of appointing an inexperienced manager),’ he said.

‘We need to take risks from time to time but that one was a little too ambitious on our part.

Hibs lost their Scottish Cup semi-final to Edinburgh rivals Hearts at Hampden in his final game

‘It could have gone the other way. Shaun could have done a fantastic job and we could be celebrating a terrific season.

‘It didn’t pan out, that’s the beauty and challenge of football. How much risk do we want to take? I don’t know.

‘We’ll cast our net wider in terms of recruitment of coaches and players and the kind of football we want to play.

‘We don’t want to limit ourselves. We have a list of potentials which has a little bit of everything, but many are from the UK.’

Former skipper David Gray (left) will take caretaker charge for the remainder of the season