Roy Keane delivered an honest assessment of his team after seeing them come agonisingly close to ending their 27-year wait for a home derby victory over Newcastle.

The Irishman could not fault his players for their effort as they dominated the game for long periods and took the lead through defender Danny Higginbotham's first ever goal for the club.

However, they were ultimately made to pay for missed chances when James Milner embarrassed Britain's most expensive goalkeeper Craig Gordon with a 65th-minute equaliser to leave the Black Cats in 15th place in the table with 10 points from their first 13 games back in the top flight.

"At the moment we are 15th, the 15th best team in the Premier League," Keane said afterwards. "I would like to be top, but we will have to wait a year or two for that.

"But 15th? We probably are about the 15th best team at the moment."

Keane is not a man to mince words and his swift assessment of the 127th Wear-Tyne league derby rather summed up Sunderland's campaign to date.

For the best part of an hour they played the better football and created the more promising openings. However, what they did not do until Higginbotham struck was convert the opportunities which came their way.

Sunderland got their noses in front when Kenwyne Jones played a short corner to Leadbitter, whose 52nd-minute cross was met perfectly by Higginbotham beyond the far post to head home with Steve Harper stranded.

The packed Stadium of Light - a crowd of 47,701 ensured its first sell-out for two and a half years - erupted, although the lead was to last only 13 minutes.

Newcastle, who had really only started to play after falling behind, worked the left flank where Milner exchanged passes with Joey Barton before cutting inside onto his right foot.

Whether or not the ball he delivered was a shot or a cross, it evaded Michael Owen and Mark Viduka, but more crucially a flat-footed Gordon and nestled just inside the far post to send the travelling fans behind the goal, among them owner Mike Ashley, into raptures.

Keane refused to apportion the blame to his £9 million goalkeeper, but he would not have enjoyed watching replays of the equaliser.

"When you concede a goal, it is down to the team," he said. "I am not here to criticise any of the players. We could have defended better as a team, certainly, but there is no need to be pointing any fingers at anybody, certainly not through the media.

"I might do it one to one, but not thought the media."

Chopra, who was born and bred on Tyneside and scored his only Barclays Premier League goal for Newcastle at Sunderland, was presented with a glorious opportunity to win the game with eight minutes remaining but saw his header from Ian Harte's corner come back off the crossbar.

Asked if he thought Chopra had snatched all three points, Keane said: "Yes. But then again, when it hits the bar and comes down, you are thinking it must fall for one of our lads, and it didn't.

"Yes, we have had our disappointments, but if we keep doing the right things, things will fall into place."

A hugely competitive game was played out in reasonable spirit, and Keane was not about to complain about a late Barton challenge on Dickson Etuhu which incensed the Nigeria international.

He said: "That's life and that's football. Players have got to expect it when they are playing against the lad Barton - he's a tough lad.

"But then again, I would like our lads to get stuck into them. That's what football is about."