ROY Keane has banned his Sunderland players from swapping shirts with their Liverpool counterparts this afternoon, and lashed out at footballers who are more interested in gathering mementos than Premier League points.

Liverpool's journey to the Stadium of Light will provide the Black Cats with their first encounter with one of England's 'Big Four' but, as they attempt to bounce back from last weekend's demoralising 3-0 defeat at Wigan, Keane is confident his squad will not be star-struck.

Niall Quinn's autobiography famously includes a description of former Sunderland winger Julio Arca haranguing Gustavo Poyet for his shirt during the half-time interval of a game with Tottenham, and Mick McCarthy's Sunderland side were accused of acting like excited tourists as they tumbled out of the top-flight with a record points low.

Keane has experienced opponents who were obsessed with swapping his shirt, and feels their attitude smacked of inferiority. So while Sunderland's players will be instructed to respect their exalted opponents later today, they will also be told to treat them as equals.

"I don't remember ever asking to swap a shirt," said the Black Cats boss, who has successfully persuaded former Manchester United team-mate Andy Cole to sign a 12-month contract on Wearside.

"It's understandable if a young player does it at the end of a game, but it's ridiculous when you get a senior player asking you during a game.

"That happens. I remember games where that's happened to me and I've been thinking, 'Are you even focused on the game at all?'

"There have been people through my career who have been more focused on getting someone's jersey.

"You see it all the time. You see players now who say, 'I've got 50 jerseys in my garage'. I think, 'Yeah, brilliant. But how many medals have you got?'

"I certainly wouldn't expect any of our players to be doing anything like that, but I don't think there's that feeling amongst our group. We've earned the right to be in the Premier League and we don't need to be star-struck.

"Of course you respect the opposition, and there's always that added boost when you're playing a team like Liverpool. But it's certainly not about being in awe of anybody else."

Last weekend's defeat at Wigan has dampened some of the euphoria that accompanied the opening-day victory over Tottenham - Keane branded it a "reality check" - and the Sunderland manager's post-match assertion that there was a "fine line between loyalty and stupidity" has led some to conclude that major changes could be in the offing.

That is unlikely, despite the likely arrival of both Ian Harte and Samuel Kuffour at the start of next week, with Keane subsequently stressing that he will not be discarding anyone on the back of one poor performance.

Last season's rapid turnover of players underlined his ruthless streak, though, and, with further setbacks all but certain given the competitive nature of the top-flight, an ability to regroup after failure is likely to be a key determinant of a player's ability to prosper under the Irishman this season

"I like to see people hurting because it shows that they care," said Keane.

"It hurts like crazy when you lose, but ultimately that's the attraction.

"It's like a bloody drug isn't it - you just want to get back and put things right.

"You need a spirit and a bond that enables you to stick at it. We had that last year, and we'll need exactly the same again because there will be setbacks along the way.

"There were plenty of setbacks last year.

"People tend to forget that and think that we won every game and everyone was as high as a kite every day of the week. It wasn't like that.

"There were disappointments, but we dealt with them."

Keane has been dealing with a major disappointment of his own this week after learning that Dean Whitehead's knee injury will sideline him for the best part of two months.

The Sunderland skipper injured his knee in training last week and will be forced to wear a protective brace for the majority of the next four weeks.

"Dean's a massive loss," admitted Keane. "We missed his energy and drive last weekend. As well as being an excellent player, he's also an excellent captain.

"If I play him at left-back or right-back, he just gets on with the job. When he played right-back for us, he was still our best player, so he's going to be a massive loss."

Carlos Edwards is also ruled out of today's game, but while Grant Leadbitter will not make the starting line-up despite returning to training this week, Sunderland's medical staff are hoping that Paul McShane will be given the all clear.

The centre-half has had ten stitches in the head wound that forced him from the field at the JJB Stadium, but a protective covering should enable him to feature against a Liverpool side Keane regards as potential Premier League champions.

"I know what I saw from Liverpool last week (against Chelsea) and that was a very good team that was committed and worked hard," said the Irishman, who made his professional debut at Anfield for Nottingham Forest and also played his final game for Manchester United against Liverpool.

"When you have talent on top of that, you have a chance.

"I think they have a chance this year - definitely the best chance that they've had in a while.

"The work-rate from them last week was a joy and, when you have that formula along with strength in depth and a brilliant manager, you definitely have a chance."