ROY Keane has praised his assistant, Tony Loughlan, for the role he played in Sunderland's successful promotion to the Premiership.

When Keane took over from Niall Quinn last August, one of his first moves was to appoint Loughlan, a former member of the training staff at Leicester, as the Black Cats' head coach.

The pair have combined effectively ever since and, as Loughlan prepares to transfer his coaching qualities onto the Premiership stage, Keane has hailed his closest confidante's efforts during this season's promotion push.

"Tony's someone I trust," said the Irishman. "His enthusiasm is fantastic and he's a top, top coach. He's been vital to everything we've done, as have the rest of the staff.

"In that respect, I've been very lucky. I said before I got the job that I would need to bring my own people in and, fortunately, I've been supported in the right way."

Loughlan and Keane forged a close friendship when they were team-mates at Nottingham Forest in the early 1990s.

The pair even lived together during the early days of their tenure at the Stadium of Light, providing each other with some much-needed support during a period of particularly intense pressure.

"We discuss this all the time, but the first two or three months in the job were absolute madness," said Keane. "We were trying to get the things we wanted and I wouldn't wish something like that on anyone.

"It was absolutely mad. Me and Lougho were renting a house together and we were getting back at seven o'clock and just hitting a brick wall, falling asleep.

"We getting pulled left, right and centre. It was the transfer deadline in the first week, we were sorting out travel arrangements in the next and, all in all, it was a mad few months.

"We knew it would be like that because we wanted to change things around the football club, but it was a crash course management for those first few weeks.

"Thankfully, we got through it, and things started to sort themselves out from that point on."

* Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes claimed two assists yesterday as the Republic of Ireland claimed a 3-0 win over Bulgaria in their opening Under-19 UEFA Elite Round qualifying round game.

Ireland's youngsters play Germany in their second group game later today, with Stokes due to join the senior squad next week ahead of their summer tour of the United States.

* Sunderland Under-18s will play Leicester in the FA Premier League Academy final at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

Leicester booked their place in the final by claiming a 3-2 victory over Arsenal yesterday.

The kick-off time for Sunday's final will be confirmed later today, with the winners due to represent England in an international tournament in Dallas later this year.

* Neil Warnock's future at Sheffield United could soon become clearer after the club called a press conference for this morning.

The Blades boss had a meeting yesterday with club officials - who are believed to be reluctant to end his seven-and-a-half year tenure - having indicated after Sunday's relegation he would take a number of days to consider his future.

He indicated last week he was unhappy with the club's new contract offer, which has now dropped significantly in light of the Blades' relegation.

Had Warnock kept his side in the Premiership he would have been offered a reported £750,000 deal, which is now reportedly worth £450,000.

And with a group of his carefully nurtured stars such as Phil Jagielka now likely to head for the exit doors, Warnock may believe the time has come to end his reign.

Blades assistant boss Stuart McCall gave the strongest indication yet Warnock may follow Paul Jewell's example in a radio interview yesterday.

McCall said: ''We'll see what happens but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the gaffer's last game in charge."