View from the dug-out

Mar 16 2008 by lynsey richardson, Sunday Sun

ROY KEANE believes Sunderland will survive if they play as they did against Chelsea for the rest of the season.

The Black Cats boss was delighted his side – even though they ended up losing 1-0 at home for the second week running.

Sunderland are still in the thick of the relegation battle but Keane insists they will not get relegated if they continue to play as they did yesterday.

He said: “I thought we played some good stuff today and we had chances. Over the last few weeks we’ve not really been creating chances but we had opportunities today.

“We have to play with that intensity and commitment to the club all the time. And if we keep persevering from now until the end of the season, I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.

“We played really well as a team. I thought everyone, including the subs when they came on, played their part – it’s very rare that you lose a game at home and get applauded off the pitch, so that was great credit to our supporters for that.”

John Terry’s early goal gave Chelsea the points but Sunderland matched the Blues’ world class stars for much of the game and would surely have taken a share of the spoils if they had made more of their own chances.

Keane said: “We had a good few chances – Kenwyne [Jones] towards the end and Dean [Whitehead] had a shot, but we can talk all day about what’s happened in the game.

“It’s what happens in both boxes that counts. They [Chelsea] had a really good chance and John Terry took it; we’ve had ours and not taken them.

“That’s football in a nutshell, it’s not rocket science.

“Chelsea took their chance, we didn’t take ours, and that’s why they’re going for titles and the European Cup.”