Roy Keane had a nasty shock for his Sunderland players this week when he worked them harder than ever despite having admitted he may have to ease off.

Keane's troops might have been lulled into a false sense of security after reading his comments in the wake of last Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Fulham when he suggested his training regime may have been too intense.

Asked if he had reduced the workload, Keane replied: "No, we have trained them even harder this week.

"The players were probably surprised and shocked - maybe they read my comments and thought they were in for an easy week.

"It's been really tough. It's been a tough week for them, I have to say.

"But obviously, we have got to look at it in terms of the bigger picture.

"When you have got nine days between games, you certainly do not take it easy.

"We have to keep the players on their toes, but looking at the bigger picture, possibly we have been doing that too much - certainly, the sessions might have been slightly long.

"But we do get feedback from the players anyway and maybe as the season goes on, that's something we need to calm down on, I suppose.

"But this week wasn't the week for that."