Niall Quinn is still grateful for Roy Keane’s reign as Sunderland manager.

Keane earned the Black Cats promotion to the Premier League in his first season, and kept them in the top-flight the following term.

However, he left the Stadium of Light earlier this season following some poor form, and has since been replaced by Ricky Sbragia.

The Wearsiders have now climbed the table under the Scot, but Quinn will always be grateful for the impact Keane had at the club.

"We needed box office when we were at the bottom of the Championship, and Roy brought it - and then some!” he told the Sunderland Echo.

"But, at this stage of the journey, I believe that box office is neither here nor there. It's all about the team now, about improving the side and the results.

"Now doing that is all down to Ricky Sbragia, but it's also about how we support Ricky and how we help give him the best chance we can.

"We don't need the sort of worldwide audience that we originally needed when
Roy first took over and we were struggling in the Championship.

"Situations where the world's media would descend on the place were a major help to us then.

"I have to admit that Roy Keane's press conferences, their unpredictability and the box office nature of it, yes, we miss that too.

"But it's now all about us getting up the table and what we do on the pitch more than anything else."