Keane draws inspiration from Moyes March 08 2008
Sunderland boss Roy Keane is taking notes from the Everton blueprint in his side's battle against Premier League relegation.
Keane has a chance to see the Goodison Park machine in action at close quarters on Sunday when David Moyes' men come to town.
The Irishman sees parallels between how opposite number Moyes has carefully constructed his current team over the past six years and what he himself is trying to achieve on Wearside.
"David Moyes gives us all a bit of hope in terms of the way he's built that squad," Keane said. "You look at them maybe two or three years ago. I think they were very much in a relegation dogfight one season.
"But he's built over the last year or two with really good signings. I watched them last week against Portsmouth and, on top of the quality they've got, I think they work as hard as any team in the Premier League.
"When you've got that formula, trust me, you've got a hell of a chance of being a successful team."
Keane's last experience against the Champions League-chasing Toffees proved a chastening lesson for him.
November's 7-1 thrashing on Merseyside is his heaviest defeat since taking charge, serving as a reminder Keane remains a novice in the managerial stakes.
"I made it clear after the game that I got the call wrong," he said. "Most certainly I picked the wrong team, most certainly I picked the wrong shape, and most certainly I should've changed it when I had an opportunity to.
"My attitude - and it always has been in football - even when we were 4-1 and 5-1 down was there's that belief that maybe we can win 6-5. But reality is slightly different and it was all a learning curve for me.
"You're going to get lessons in the Premier League against good teams and we got one that day. There's no shame in that. There's no shame in losing to a much better team.
"But that's gone now, that's history. The beauty of football is you can move on to the next challenge and the next one for us is Sunday."
Sunday's game is the first of two back-to-back home matches for the Black Cats.
Having failed to register an away win all season, Keane knows a fifth straight success at the Stadium of Light might prove necessary.
"Our home form has to be better than our away form or else, my God, we would be in trouble," he said.