Sunderland boss Roy Keane admits he was wrong as a player to complain about managers who blamed injuries for poor results.

Keane said: "When I was a player I used to hear managers talking about missing certain players and thought, 'Just deal with it'. But I shouldn't have been so harsh.

"We're missing the likes of Deano and Carlos and they are two big players for us, there's no getting away from that. For our squad to be tested so early in the season, for us to be missing these big players, has been hard.

"Dean is a massive loss for us, I can't say it enough. His qualities on the training pitch and in the dressing room will be missed, I can't speak highly enough about him."