Keane set for Rovers ‘test’

SUNDERLAND boss Roy Keane admits his players face another stern test of their Premier League credentials at Blackburn tonight.

The Black Cats head for Ewood Park as the 36-year-old locks horns with former Manchester United team-mate Mark Hughes having seen his side drag themselves out of the relegation zone with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Bolton.

Keane was delighted with the efforts of his defenders, who managed to keep dangerman Nicolas Anelka at bay, although he knows they will face an equally testing task as they come up against Rovers hitman Roque Santa Cruz who hit his 14th goal of the season and eighth in five games at the weekend.

“They have got a centre-forward in unbelievable form — but every team you play in the Premier League has got top players.

“We played against Nicolas Anelka on Saturday and he has moved for about £75million (€102m) in total.

“At the end of the day, that’s what we are up against, top-quality players. My players are being tested every week.”

Keane insists the victory over Bolton after a run of just one win in 13 attempts may be a turning point.

He said: “We can have team talks, we can have pep talks, but players need to win football matches.

“Our home form has always been okay, I have to say. We have lost a few games, to (Manchester) United, Liverpool, very good teams.

“But other games — Blackburn we feel we should have got something out of, we feel we should have beaten Newcastle, we should have beaten Villa — but we have not. These games are passing us by, so hopefully the win will give the players a nice boost.”

If Keane is hoping to edging clear of the relegation zone, Hughes looks on tonight’s clash as the spark for a European challenge.

“We’re in much better shape than at this stage last year,” he said.

“We’re up to 30 points and it was late January before we reached the 30-point mark last year. We’re very much ahead of where we were last year so we want to kick on now.

“We’re usually better in the second half of the season and we hope that’s going to be the case again.

“If that does happen then we’re going to have a fine season.”

But he warned: “Sunderland are one of the better teams down the bottom end. I think they’ve got a bit more about them than some of the other teams in and around them.”