Black Cats supremo hails Keane

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has thanked Roy Keane for the 'winning mentality' he brought to the club following his resignation.

The 37-year-old ended weeks of speculation over his future by calling time on his 27-month reign at the Stadium of Light on Thursday morning. And instead of Keane's planned 1pm press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to his former club Manchester United, Quinn took the seat to lavish praise on the outgoing manager who took the club from the foot of the Championship and into the Premier League during his tenure.

Quinn said: "He had put a lot of effort in here, brought more than just his presence here - he brought a way of thinking into this place.

"He was instrumental in developing a winning mentality - that was the toughest thing of all for him to come and do when we were at the foot of the Championship.

"He brought standards to this club which are amazing. But to do that, it's intense.

"He is such a respected figure around the world that the media is intense, the fan pressure is intense.

"I tried for two years to keep as much pressure off him as possible, but obviously the Premier League is the Premier League and I guess it came to the point where Roy thought he had reached the end of that journey.

"Reluctantly, I accepted that. It was not the easiest thing to do, but I think it was the best thing to do in the circumstances at that point."

Quinn also confirmed that Ricky Sbragia has been handed the caretaker manager's role ahead of the trip to United and he will be assisted by Dwight Yorke.