When Andy Cole signed for Sunderland yesterday, fellow new striker Roy O'Donovan was forced to pinch himself to believe he was actually training with three of his boyhood idols. Chief Football Writer Paul Fraser reports

ROY O'DONOVAN hails from Cork - just a few miles from the city estate where Roy Keane was brought up. However, unlike what many of his fellow Corkmen claim, he had never spoken to the Ireland legend up until a few weeks ago.

Claiming to be a friend or acquaintance of the Sunderland boss is a game everyone likes to play in the Emerald Isle. Now O'Donovan can go one better by working under the Ireland legend.

It was during Sunderland's pre-season tour of Ireland that O'Donovan first came face to face with Keane and, within moments of meeting his idol, the 22-year-old had abandoned plans for a medical at Fulham.

Cork City's rising international striker was taking a U-turn. Instead of London, O'Donovan outlined his intention to become a part of the Keane revolution at Sunderland.

And now, with Andy Cole following him to the Stadium of Light, O'Donovan is not only living a dream of playing in the Premier League he is struggling to believe that he could be rubbing shoulders with three of his heroes on the training field every day.

Having grown up a Manchester United fan during Keane's halcyon days as captain, O'Donovan worshipped the Sunderland manager's every move, while he also adored the talents of both Dwight Yorke and Cole in the Red Devils shirt.

This afternoon, although it is by no means certain given the enormous leap he has had to make from the League of Ireland in less than a month, he is preparing to take on Liverpool's title hopefuls on the Wearside turf.

Roy of the Rovers stuff? You'd better believe it.

"There's not just Andy Cole, there's people like Dwight Yorke and the gaffer who all of us look up to," said O'Donovan, whose previous spells in England with Wolves, Coventry and Cheltenham were unsuccessful.

"Hopefully their game can add to mine and make me a better player. I can learn from people every day.

"Dwight and Andy were unbelievable together at Manchester United. They were an unbelievable partnership, the best in the Premier League's history when they played together.

"Andy is someone else that I can learn from.

"For someone at 22 years of age, to have an opportunity to work with people like Andy Cole and Dwight is fantastic. I could take something from everyone here really, though.

"I was a big fan of Roy Keane, he was a great footballer and one of the best. But when you come to the Premier League you are going to be working with players and people of that stature all the time. You have to get used to it fairly quickly."

O'Donovan was not a member of the respected Rockmount Juniors that Keane made famous, instead he used to play for rivals Leeds, so he has never benefited from Keane's charitable side in Ireland.

"Everyone in Cork claims to know Roy," said O'Donovan. "It's one of those things. I was one of the few that didn't but I can say I know him now."

For now he is living out of a suitcase with television for entertainment and 'crinkled shirts' - but his girlfriend will be moving over from Ireland in the next couple of weeks and he will be pushing ahead with finding a new house and car.

His appearances on the pitch are unlikely to be consistent while he adapts to the huge changes, although he has already had a huge impact in the Premier League.

On his debut at Birmingham he infuriated Steve Bruce, the City manager, by falling on top of goalkeeper Colin Doyle in injury time which allowed Stern John to head in the equaliser. If he wasn't well known beforehand, his profile rose considerably after that outing.

From now on, however, he has every intention of making a name for himself by scoring goals following his £600,000 move from Cork City, having been helped to come to terms with life in the North-East by a few of his compatriots.

"I have got settled in fairly well," he said. "As a player Sunderland is a nice place to live and in terms of a football club I could not have picked a better one.

"It's a massive club with a massive fan base. There's everything that goes with that as well, the stadium, the training ground, it's all top class.

"It's full of good strong characters here. And it can be awkward at first trying to settle anywhere, but it has been fantastic. People like Paul McShane, Liam Miller and Daryl Murphy have all been very helpful.

"But everyone has been great, even senior players like Dean Whitehead, and Dwight."

To play against Liverpool would be like a fairytale for O'Donovan today, so he would struggle to describe the feeling should he take on the club he supported as a boy, Manchester United, in seven days.

But, having taken the giant step from the League of Ireland to the Premier League, O'Donovan does not have any intention of taking anything for granted.

"I want to make an impact in English football and hopefully that's to come," he said.

"I'm really excited about playing at the Stadium of Light and all of this is just a great challenge for me and a great opportunity. I'm ready for what lies ahead."