Kevin Keegan will almost certainly take a sharp intake of breath when he finds out whether Andy Cole is fit enough to remain a contender for a place in his Euro 2000 squad.

But will that be a gasp of relief because a dangerous striker remains one of his options, or relief that a decision on whether or not to include an attacking enigma has been taken out of his hands by injury?

Keegan proved how highly he values team morale when he stayed with the England squad to watch the European Cup Final rather than fly out to Paris. But Cole is a loner, even in Manchester United's tightly-knit ranks.

On the one hand, the player's pace, combative running and scoring ability would surely make him a threat to most defences in the European Championship.

For all of his so-called technical failings, Cole frequently finds himself in the right place at the right time. Even if, as Glenn Hoddle suggested, he is more likely to fail than succeed with at least six chances in every seven, no defender would take a chance on ignoring him.

However, his value as a player often seems to be devalued by his complex, seemingly tortured personality. Smiling often seems to be a source of embarrassment to him. Despite overtaking Denis Law's record as United's top scorer in the European Cup, he neither acts or reacts like a king.

He will pretend that there is no chip on his shoulder, first chiselled there by insinuations that he was a journeyman compared to United's artists when he arrived for £7million in January 1995, then deepened by Eric Cantona's thinly disguised contempt for him.

Cantona recently visited Old Trafford to watch the Premiership celebrations following United's last home game. When the pair bumped into each other in the main stand, Cole, standing up to make way for the departing Frenchman, could manage only a polite handshake and a pallid smile.

Once, he may have wanted to prove himself to be one of the lads. Now he gives the impression that he has simply given up on what people think of him or how they see him, preferring quiet contempt to compromise.

The arrival of Dwight Yorke gave him a soul mate, but in many ways the Trinidadian's charismatic character and helter-skelter lifestyle only underlined his friend's solemn, some would say surly manner.

On the pitch, now that Cantona is long gone, Cole is less doleful and far more dextrous than he is often given credit for. He has scored 100 goals for United, including 22 last season.

But on the international front he has still not lived down Hoddle's harsh observation. The former England manager and Keegan have been the subjects of attacks from the player.

He accused Hoddle of all but ruining his England prospects. He insisted Keegan was like Hoddle and before him Terry Venables - giving Alan Shearer preferential treatment and forcing the other candidates to fight for the remaining spot.

Given that Shearer will captain England in the weeks to come, Cole will feel nothing has changed. And always, at the back of his mind, even if he does stay part of the England squad before the coach's final cull on June 1, will be the fact that it was Keegan who sold him to Old Trafford.

While intensely proud of himself, he also appears intensely bitter, and rarely misses an opportunity to show the public that he sees himself as a perpetual whipping boy.

Even when he broke Law's 13-goal record there was no joyful outburst, only: 'I suppose I will still get flak because they will say that Denis had fewer games to play in because there was no Champions League back then.'

Cole fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson when he discovered that his manager intended to bring in Ruud van Nistelrooy. The pair have also clashed because Cole does not like being a substitute.

Keegan, even if Cole is told that he can carry on, will have to examine the player's relationship with Shearer, who was more than miffed by his ill-advised comments.

The pity of it all is that Cole is a fine player. But if Keegan has to make his ultimate choice on personality, the chances are that Cole, if not today then by June 1, will once again feel he has been made the odd man out.