Djibril Cisse admits a dressing down from Sunderland boss Roy Keane at halftime led to his scoring performance in their victory over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Cisse, who was told to work harder, has no grudges following those harsh words.

After his goal, Cisse ran to the dugout and shook hands with the Sunderland manager and he is hoping recent rumours about Keane's future are unfounded and that the Irishman does not walk away from the club.

In-form Cisse said: "He got the best out of me in the second half because of what he said to me.

"He got me a bit annoyed and I wanted to show him that I can score goals and work hard. He reminds me a lot of my first boss, Guy Roux at Auxerre. He knew how to manage me when I wasn't performing.

"Roy Keane found the right words for us. It made us realise that what we were giving wasn't enough.

"In the morning, some of the players talked about the rumours that the boss was quitting."