Sunderland boss Roy Keane is willing to give Anthony Stokes a chance to prove his Premiership credentials this season.

"The magic word for him is consistency," Keane told The Journal. "Everyone I speak to says the lad's got talent, but that only makes 5% of being a top, top footballer. Lots of players have talent. I saw lads at Cobh who I played with who had more talent than me but it comes down to a lot of things, like your family, your beliefs, your desire.

"Stokesy is as talented a kid as I've ever come across, I've got a lot of time for Stokesy. I don't mind if he's a bit of a 'Jack the Lad' because I was myself.

"There was an opportunity for him to go to Leeds at the end of last season and that might have done him some good.

"It comes down to him now. If he wants to be a top player it's up to him now."