Liverpool legend Alan Hansen believes Paolo di Canio can keep Sunderland up.

Hansen wrote in the Telegraph: "There are those who light up a room when they enter. Di Canio has the vitality to make The Stadium of Light glow on the evidence of his first two games in charge.

"I do not see how they will go down after their victory over Newcastle. The timing of the game, the manner of the victory and, perhaps most importantly of all, the venue in which they produced their best performance of the season will surely give them the momentum to secure safety.

"You cannot look beyond the Di Canio factor to explain the transformation. No matter how long he is the manager of Sunderland, he will never have a more important meeting than when he summoned his players on that first morning in charge. Standing in front of his squad, decisions would have been taken there and then about whether they were for him, or against him."