Keane keeps feet on the ground

SUNDERLAND boss Roy Keane was not too disappointed to see a sense of perspective brought to his fledgling management career.

Two games in, two away victories and Keane’s side, the most optimistic of Wearsiders were starting to believe, was heading straight back to the Barclays Premiership.

That is something they may yet achieve, but Saturday’s 1-1 draw with struggling Leicester at the Stadium of Light reminded the city’s football public — and Keane’s players — that there is much hard work to be done before that becomes a possibility.

At kick-off, the game represented a clash between 14th and 21st in the Championship; a point apiece left the sides in 14th and 20th places respectively.

What the 90 minutes demonstrated was that, when they play, Sunderland can play, as 10 points from the last 12 illustrates.

However, the knowledge that they will not have things all their own way is something the manager believes will be a valuable lesson.

Keane said: “You have to remember, we are still in the bottom half of the league.

“People have been getting slightly carried away, which is natural.

“But the character the players showed in the second half, if you have that, you have got half a chance.

“We could have played better in the first half — we did not close people down, we did not tackle people — but a lot of that was down to tiredness.

“The players gave 100%.”

The home side started brightly and might have gone ahead through Chris Brown and Stanislav Varga, but they faded alarmingly and it was no surprise when they fell behind.

Liam Miller’s loose 48th-minute pass allowed Andy Johnson to find Matty Fryatt, and he cut inside before firing past Ben Alnwick.

Keane responded on 65 minutes by introducing winger Tobias Hysen, and the ploy worked within a minute when the Swede drilled home the equaliser.

He said: “You learn about different players in different situations. Whether you are winning or you are losing, it is a home game, there are different, added pressures.”