Keane hopeful of imminent arrival

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is confident of completing his first signing of this month's transfer window after watching his side slip back into the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League.

A 57th-minute Benni McCarthy penalty six minutes after goalkeeper Brad Friedel had saved a Dean Whitehead spot-kick was all that separated the sides as Blackburn won 1-0 in a match which also saw former Rovers star Dwight Yorke dismissed for two second-half cautions in the space of just five minutes.

"You get what you deserve in life. We ended up with nothing, and maybe that's what we deserved," was Keane's blunt assessment in the wake of a ninth away defeat in 11 matches.

It is the reason why Keane is anxious to strengthen this month, with the first of the new arrivals seemingly imminent.

"We are hopeful, certainly with one player signing in the next 24 hours," asserted Keane.

"Hopefully that will then get the ball rolling for us to get in one or two more.

"We know where we are short at the moment, and that's why we are looking to try and strengthen. We've one or two playing with injuries, and one or two playing out of position like Dean Whitehead.

"So we're certainly being stretched, and we're only halfway through the season.

"But I've said it since pre-season when we went into the season definitely short of a couple of players, and then we had a few serious injuries to compound that.

"It means when an opportunity comes along to get something out of a game like this, we've not been good enough take it."