Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has revealed a huge respect for Sunderland boss Roy Keane after he made the Black Cats virtually safe from relegation in his first season as a top fight coach.

"Roy has done a fantastic job - and I said that way before I came back here to manage Newcastle again," said Keegan ahead of Sunday's clash.

"He is a big character and he has got the immediate respect of players because he is not asking them to do anything he has not done on a football pitch.

"He has done as well as I did when I first came into management as a rookie here, because the Premier League has changed.

"He could not do with Sunderland what I did with Newcastle all those years ago because the top four clubs now and the finances available to a lot of the others mean you just cannot make that leap from the division below into the top half of the Premier League so easily.

"What he has achieved is comparable to what I achieved. It doesn't look as good, but in reality, the goalposts have been moved so far that it is a major achievement.

"Once you stabilise a club like Sunderland coming up from the other division, then you can start to look at taking it to the next stage, and that's what they will be looking to do."