Keane ready for hostile reception

Leeds Utd v Sunderland: Roy Keane takes Sunderland to Elland Road tonight, where he said he expects "a nice round of applause". Keane was being sarcastic, knowing Leeds United fans view him with contempt and did so even before his infamous first run-in with Alf Inge Haaland when playing for Manchester United nine years ago.

That opinion hardened when Keane exacted revenge on Haaland at Old Trafford after the Norwegian had become a Manchester City player and Haaland's name was chanted by Leeds supporters towards the end of Sunday's game with Wolves.

Keane will at least have the backing of 5,000 Sunderland fans, the club again selling out their allocation as excitement grows on Wearside, though the Irishman said that he always relished the hostility of places like Elland Road.

"I'm sure they're going to give me a nice round of applause," Keane said of the potential reception from Leeds.

"As a player it never fazed me, it's something I enjoyed and hopefully the players will. But anyone who thinks it'll be easy at Leeds will need their heads examining. It's going to be another hard match."

But after Sunderland's 2-1 win at Derby on Saturday Keane admitted to "a feel-good factor at the club", though he is not enthusiastic about comparisons between his arrival on Wearside and Kevin Keegan's on Tyneside in 1992.

Keane was restless with the attention on his previous encounters with Leeds and will be glad when the commotion around his presence at Sunderland soothes. "As long as the players are focused on the job, others can focus on what they want," he said.

But he was prepared to revisit the Haaland incident briefly. Describing Elland Road as "probably in my top 10" of most hostile venues - "You've got Anfield, Highbury, Turkey". Keane said the cruciate ligament damage he sustained in 1997 when trying to foul Haaland turned into a moment of insight.

"It was probably a good thing that happened to me, I had to look at the bigger picture, what I was doing on and off the pitch," he said.

"It put me out for eight or nine months but in a strange way it was one of the turning points of my career. I was taking everything for granted and I wasn't preparing properly, I wasn't leading the right lifestyle. When I was out I had to step back and take a look at where I was going wrong. So as much as there was a down side, there was a plus as well.

"I learned a lot about myself, about what I was doing right and wrong, the diet side of things. I was taking things for granted, going into the game I'd had a hectic week, then trouble, I was out fighting somebody at 4am in the morning, my preparation wasn't 100 per cent right and I was punished for that. It was a morning kick-off and physically I wasn't in good shape, because my lifestyle wasn't allowing me to be what I wanted to be. Obviously Haaland was annoying me, so that was it."

One person who will not be alongside Keane is Brian Kidd, who has joined Sheffield United instead of Sunderland. Keane said: "Sheffield United are in the Premiership and it's a lot nearer his home, and a lot of that came into his decision. But good luck to him. We move on."