Keane willing to wait for players

Sunderland manager Roy Keane will work up to the final minutes of the summer transfer window in order to get his men.

The Irishman clinched an initial £1.5million deal for West Brom defender Paul McShane last night, which could rise by a further £1million, while another unnamed target could take another two weeks to secure.

However, Keane, who made six signings on the final day of last year's summer window after his appointment as manager, will have no qualms about doing business at the death once again.

Asked before McShane's deal was confirmed if he would remain in the market to the end, he replied: 'If we have to, if we have to to get the couple of players we are after.

'But I'm hoping one will happen in the next day or two. I'm hopeful that will finalise itself and the other player we are interested in might take another week or two.

'But it's something completely out of our hands. It's a strange one, really, so we have to be really patient with that one.'

McShane, 21, has been linked with the Black Cats throughout the summer, and Keane will be delighted to finally get his man after a series of near misses.

In the last few days he has seen his bid to capture Wigan full-back Leighton Baines come to nothing, and ended his pursuit of Hearts keeper Craig Gordon.

Keane and his players will head off on their pre-season tour of Ireland tomorrow with fellow newcomers Greg Halford, Russell Anderson, Michael Chopra, Kieran Richardson and Dickson Etuhu among a 22-man party.

Sunderland will face Bohemians, Cork City and Galway during their trip to Ireland, although Keane has promised it will be no public relations exercise.

He said: 'When we go to Ireland, there won't be any messing about, we are going over there to play and put on a good show.

'I won't be chopping and changing like I usually do, we will be looking to get a settled team to put on a good performance. We are not taking these games lightly.'

The highlight for many will be Keane's return to his native Cork, although asked how he regarded being considered a hero by the locals, he replied with a smile: 'Not by everybody.'

He added: 'It's good to go back. They are all football-mad over there and hopefully there's a lot more interest in Sunderland these days.

'It's usually United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Celtic, so hopefully we can win one or two over.'