Sunderland striker El Hadji Diouf is confident he's found a kindred spirit in new gaffer Roy Keane.

"We are similar characters," said Diouf with a huge smile. "We are both bad losers. I will do everything to win.

"I hate losing, just like he did. I played against him a number of times and in every game he was always so hot on the pitch. I am like that as well.

"I had words with Roy a lot of times. I had words with him when we played against each other in the final and we also had an argument in a league game at Liverpool when we lost 2-1. Everybody knows Roy Keane as a temperamental man and they know me like that as well. When I was young I wanted to be myself. I made sure I gave as good as I got. 'We talked about that quickly when we met. He's not too old to forget that. It was a long time ago, though, and now everything to do with that is finished.

"People used to boo Roy Keane wherever he went and now they do that to me. But people never boo a bad player."

Being a figure of hate sits surprisingly well with Diouf. The Senegalese forward has faced charges for spitting on supporters at Celtic and Middlesbrough, is vilified when he returns to Anfield and burned bridges before leaving Bolton. It does not bother him.

"I know that opposition supporters like to hate me but I am totally comfortable with that," he said. "No matter what team I am playing against anywhere in the world the opposition supporters do not make me welcome but that's because they know me.

"They know who I am and what I am capable of. That makes me want to do something during the game. I like to wind the opposition up."