Sunderland dressing room view on potential Roy Keane appointment revealed as Aiden McGeady has say

Keane, the leading contender to replace Lee Johnson, is open to a return to management and has admitted in recent years that he feels he has unfinished business in the North East.

He is understood to be willing to listen to what the club has to say, though club sources have stressed that talks were ongoing with multiple candidates, and that no final decisions had been made.

McGeady was interviewed on Sky Sports and he knows Keane well from his playing days at Celtic and when he was number two for the Republic of Ireland.

"I've seen the rumours of Roy Keane being interviewed for the job,” McGeady told Sky Sports News.

"I have known him a long time, played with him at Celtic and he was my coach at Ireland the last five or six years under Martin O'Neill, when he was number two.

"I know him well, I know he has a lot of fans and is still held in high regard by the fans here.

"It is not my job to comment on the speculation, whether he is the right man for the job or not, that is down to the hierarchy and the board at the club.

"But if he were to get the job, it would give the fans a big boost, similar to the signing of Jermain [Defoe].

"That was a massive coup by the club, he still knows where the goal is, you see the lift the whole club got from him coming in, even just around the place the last couple of days."

On Wednesday, SAFC confirmed the appointment of Mike Dodds as head of an interim management team, which was an indication that at that stage no successor to Lee Johnson was imminent and that one might not be in place for Saturday's visit of Doncaster Rovers.

However, Keane has emerged as the leading contender over the last 24-hours – and he would prove a popular choice with the fanbase as the club targets promotion back to the Championship.

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