Keane: I knew we could do it

Roy Keane has admitted he would not have taken the job of Sunderland manager had he not believed they could win promotion back to the Premiership.

The 35-year-old put his players through their paces yesterday a day after seeing them clinch their return to the top flight without kicking a ball when Derby lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace.

He will send them out for the final time this season at Luton on Sunday hoping to add the Coca-Cola Championship title to the remarkable achievement of climbing from 23rd position the day he took over into the top two.

However, he insists, despite spending much of the season playing down his side’s chances of winning promotion, he always felt they could pull it off.

He said: “Yes. I hoped we would. That is why I took the job – otherwise I would have stayed on holiday.

“We spoke to the players and we knew for us to have any chance of getting into the Premiership, we would have to go on a hell of a run, and that’s what we did.

“That all goes down to the players. We look after them, we make sure they are happy and they are settled at the football club, but they are the ones who have to cross that white line and do the business.”

Keane was thrown in at the deep end in his first managerial post and admitted the first few months were exhausting for he and his assistant, Tony Loughlan.

He said: “The first two or three months we had in the job, I would not wish it on anybody.

“It was absolute madness. There was so much going on and trying to get things the way we wanted them.

“We were living together and we were going back every evening at 7pm and just falling fast asleep. It was just really draining, that side of it.”

Asked if he has been able to enjoy his side’s inexorable climb up the table, he said: “Not really, no. No. You cannot do, there is too much going on.

“Maybe I can reflect after Sunday’s game. I always tend to reflect at the end of the season.

“We want to finish on a high and that would be to win next Sunday and win the Championship.

“The only reason I am going to Luton on Sunday is to win, otherwise I would not travel down with them.

“We want to win football matches. We have won a few games over the last few months and it is amazing how the table takes care of itself.”

Promotion will mean Keane gets a chance to lock horns with Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who recruited him as his leader on the pitch at Manchester United, and his return to Old Trafford will be eagerly anticipated.

The Irishman revealed Ferguson, with whom he famously had a bust-up which ultimately hastened his exit from United, had not been among the well-wishers who had contacted him.

He said: “No. Listen, he has got a European Cup semi-final coming up, I would not expect it.”