Keane accepted yesterday that he has ruled out the striker for the opening two months of the new campaign, but insisted he could not predict whether the absence will be longer.

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The gloomiest reports suggest it could be January or February before Jones recovers from the knee injury he suffered early in Trinidad & Tobago's friendly loss to England on June 1.

But Keane said such talk was premature.

The Irishman said: "The only thing we can say for sure is that Kenwyne will miss the start of the season because he will not do pre-season with us.

"That means that he is probably not going to be available for the first couple of months, but we really don't know anything more than that at this stage.

"We are not 100 per cent sure of the extent of the injury and we will know more in the next three weeks, after Kenwyne sees the specialist again.

"There is ligament damage, that I can confirm, but we are hopeful he will not need any sort of major surgery. That would be a big plus for us and him.

"It might need cleaning up with a minor op."

England keeper David James has apologised for the accidental collision that left Jones stricken less than 10 minutes into the Port of Spain friendly to celebrate Trinidad & Tobago's centenary.

Keane was not watching the game in which his £6m former Southampton striker was hurt.

He said: "I was in New Zealand on the trip to round off my Pro Licence when someone told me Kenwyne had been taken off. "My exact words were, 'he'll be fine'.

"I was not sure he would be playing the game because he had broken his wrist in the last game of last season.

"I've got no issue about the fact it all happened in an international friendly. These things can happen in any game or training session, or even away from football.

"But it is certainly a big disappointment for us.

"We're back out on the training ground again now missing a big player and a big presence.

"We have to get on with it. Because of what has happened, Kenwyne is not in my plans for at least six to nine weeks."