O’Donovan believes Keane right to read squad the riot act

9:27am Thursday 8th May 2008

WHILE most Sunderland players must be fearing for their futures in the wake of Roy Keane's comments at the weekend, striker Roy O'Donovan last night revealed how he is ready to prove his worth to the Black Cats boss.

Saturday's defeat at Bolton Wanderers provoked an angry reaction from Keane, who was far from happy with the manner in which the Black Cats succumbed to their 14th league away defeat of the season.

The Irishman revealed there are few in his squad guaranteed to be playing next season following the result.

With several players out of contract in the coming weeks, Keane will begin his summer clearout, with only Dwight Yorke - of the free agents - expected to extend their stay on Wearside.

And Keane has promised not to stop there, warning that the futures of Sunderland's under contract stars are far from assured.

However, O'Donovan fully agrees with Keane's sentiments and the Cork-born forward is relishing the challenge ahead.

He said: "In the Premier League there's no margin for errors.

The performance on Saturday as a team, we didn't do enough and we didn't deserve to win the game.

"I suppose rightly so he (Keane) came out and said we didn't play well. That's fair enough.

"The competition is good and even if the match had been won or lost on Saturday he was always going to bring in players during the summer anyway.

"It's good to be challenging for places, it keeps you on your toes and next year we'll get some good players and we can push on."

O'Donovan feels the club can build on the achievements of this season and, having consolidated their position in the top flight, the 22-year-old does not feel attracting talent will be a problem.

He said: "We did our first job, which was to stay in the league and it's all to do with the chairman and the manager and what they do in the off season. I know they are going to be working really hard to get the right players.

"There won't be any problem attracting players here. We've done well this year and we're looking to build now so we can get some stability here and we can push on as a club.

"Everything is rosy at the moment as far as Sunderland is concerned and I just want to be part of that."

The striker has played only a bit part this season, having joined the club from Cork City in August last year.

But, after finishing top scorer in the Eircom League for Cork last season, O'Donovan revealed he never expected to be thrust into the first-team spotlight in his first campaign.

His appearance as a second half substitute at Bolton on Saturday was O'Donovan's 16th league outing for the club.

"It was a bit of a step up to what I was used to but I've enjoyed it," he said. "I'm looking forward to Sunday (Arsenal at home) now and hopefully I will get a start.

"The manager said to me it's up to myself how hard I work to get in the team, but he never signed me to get in the team straight away.

"I'm just grateful for the amount of games I have played."

Following the disappointment of the Bolton defeat, O'Donovan believes the Wearsiders should look forward to pitting their wits against Arsene Wenger's Arsenal on Sunday.

"They are a fantastic team to watch," said O'Donovan. "They play great football. It will be a great test for us and we'll have no excuses if we lose the game."