Roy Keane admits that Liam Miller has driven him round the bend recently. It is likely to be the only kind of driving the apparently accident-prone Sunderland midfield player is allowed by his exasperated manager, who has revealed the excuses used by the Ireland international for the tardy time-keeping that led to him being placed on the transfer list.

Keane said that his patience snapped after the player was late for training for the “sixth or seventh” time this season. “If you’re driving to work, then don’t get in a car with Liam Miller,” the Sunderland manager said. “He gets involved in more car crashes than anyone I know.”

Statistically speaking, driving is no more dangerous on the mean streets of Wearside than in many other places, which may explain why Keane has claimed that he was no longer willing to accept Miller’s excuses. “There’s a different excuse each time and I’m sure Liam will find a few reasons for being late, but we gave him the benefit of the doubt five, six, maybe seven times,” he said.

Miller has been a central part of Keane’s plans since joining the club on a free transfer from Manchester United only days after Keane took charge 18 months ago. Parting company with a relatively experienced Barclays Premier League player such as Miller leaves the manager open to accusations of an over-reaction, a footballing version of cutting off his nose to spite his face in an attempt to flex his managerial muscles.

But after Keane ordered the team bus to leave without three of his squad before a game away to Barnsley last season, Miller cannot dispute that his manager has a track record in matters of strict time-keeping. “Believe it or not, I don’t walk round here with a stick threatening people,” he said. “I’m quite a nice guy and I don’t go looking for trouble, but if trouble’s there then you have to face it.

“If a player’s late once or twice, all well and good. If he’s late three or four times, well, maybe all well and good. But when it goes beyond five, six, or seven times, then you’ve got to draw the line.

“We can’t wait for anyone. Liam’s a Corkman like me and I’ve defended him on many occasions. I can tolerate a lot of things and I’ve been more than fair, but there comes a point when you have to say enough is enough.”

Not that the manager was talking about Miller’s Sunderland career entirely in the past tense yesterday. Ever the pragmatist, Keane said: “Before he picked up his recent injury, he’d definitely been one of our better players. Liam played well for the reserves [on Wednesday] and if he performs like that and nobody comes in for him, then who knows? He’s had his ups and downs here like lots of players but he’s happy here and as long as he’s under the roof then he’s always got a chance.

“If he keeps working hard then, you never know, he might get an opportunity. We’ll see if he’s got a chance of playing on Saturday, but only if he’s on time. It’s not as if we’ve got a squad of 50 players to choose from.”

Other than an apparent inability to locate his watch, Keane is adamant that he has no other axe to grind against a player with more than 50 Sunderland appearances to his name and who, before this episode, was set to be one of only two individuals to figure against Derby County tomorrow who played in the manager’s first game in charge, against the same opponents 18 months ago.

“The problem is Liam’s time-keeping, it’s as simple as that,” Keane said. “It’s not about him as a player or as a lad because I’ve got a lot of time for him.

“We need every player we can get, but I’ve got to look at the bigger picture. We set a very high standard here and he’s not been able to match that, so he’s on the transfer list.”