There must be no let-up against Luton, warns Keane

SUNDERLAND manager Roy Keane has warned his party animals to sober up quickly if they want to celebrate in style at Luton on Sunday.

The newly-promoted Black Cats are chasing the Championship title and tough taskmaster Keane insists there must be no let-up against the bottom club.

He said: “We’re not going down there to party — we can party Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We’re going there to win and we’ve had a good habit of winning recently.

“It’s the best feeling in the world winning matches and that’s what we’ll be trying to do on Sunday.

With my mindset I won’t be going there to party, I’m going to win a game of football.

“If I see any of our lads in training are not quite at it because they’ve been celebrating too much, they won’t be travelling.

“There’s a time to enjoy the one or two achievements you get, but I think it’s important you move on quickly and I won’t tolerate anything but a very good performance on Sunday. Then the players can relax and enjoy their holiday.

“We’ve played some good stuff in the last couple of games and we encourage the players to play with freedom in every match.

“The fact Luton are relegated might lead to a more open game, but it’s still a game of football, we’re representing Sunderland, the fans are travelling there and there’s a chance we could win the Championship — let’s not get away from that.

“We want to finish the season on a high and I’ll be disappointed if we don’t win the game. That’ll be my job in the next couple of days, watching players in training, because you find people who get a bit carried away.

“If players do that at this club, they won’t play. I find making decisions like that very easy.

“I watch the players, I watch their body language in training, see who’s doing the warm-ups properly, who’s listening to the message we’re trying to get across. In this walk of life some people may party a bit too much, but they won’t play on Sunday.”

Keane added: “Luton had a good win last week and they’ve got a new manager in Kevin Blackwell, and you always find as a player that every game is a challenge.’’ Keane has reported a virtual clean bill of health for the Kenilworth Road clash, with Ireland midfielder Graham Kavanagh the only absentee due to an ankle injury.