FEARS of trouble between former Loyalist leader Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair and the Ulster Defence Association boss Andre Shoukri were unfounded at the weekend.

Although the weekend passed peacefully, police were alerted to the possibility that people associated with the UDA were travelling to Greater Manchester to watch Northern Ireland's football team take on England at Old Trafford.

And according to reports, Shoukri joined thousands of other Northern Ireland fans in Manchester on Saturday.

He was under constant surveillance during his stay in the city.

The north Belfast crime boss arrived in the city with his henchmen on Friday for a weekend stay at a five-star hotel, according to a Northern Irish newspaper.

There had been fears there may have been trouble between Shoukri and Adair.

But Adair told Northern Ireland's Sunday Life newspaper: "I don't even like football, I'm more of a boxing fan."

Senior security sources said they believed Shoukri may have used the game at Old Trafford as a cover to meet Manchester-based criminals with close links to the UDA.

Adair is a former leader of the UDA. He is living in exile in Horwich after being released from prison but earlier this year defied a death threat by paying a visit to Belfasts Shankill estate.

Adairs family and around 30 supporters were driven out of their homes and settled in Bolton weeks later. Adair joined wife Gina and the couple's two youngest children at their terraced home in Chorley New Road, Horwich, in January.