Eager Etuhu is so Keane for a lesson

Roy Keane is playing football again and he always means business. Last week his old Nottingham Forest team-mate Stuart Pearce, never a man to shirk a challenge in training, announced he was stunned by the intensity of Sunderland's training sessions.

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Late-comer: midfielder Dickson Etuhu rides Mark Noble's challenge last month

And perhaps this is why: No player even contemplates taking it easy when Keane joins in.

For Dickson Etuhu, Keane's presence in his central midfield position presents a dilemma. Learn from the master alongside him, or try get the better of him on the other side?

"You don't really want to be in his team because if you are, he canes you all the time," he said.

"He never stops ordering you about, shouting, talking, encouraging. But if you are playing against him, you know you're in for a hard game.

"I haven't seen anyone try to nail him yet. Would you? The secret is to learn from him, close him down and just try to get the ball."

It comes as no surprise, despite the dodgy hip which ended his playing days at Celtic, that Keane's performances among his younger players are still Premier League class.

Etuhu added: "He still shows he is great. He absolutely controls the whole midfield and, if he could get himself fit, he could still do a job. But he is looking at the other side of football now.

"He still runs it, still appeals for every throw-in, every foul, every yellow card. He lets the ball go at the perfect time, every time, just before you get there.

"It's just great to see him being involved and you just can't help but learn from him."

For Etuhu, the 36-year-old Keane's presence on the training ground, whether it is playing or observing, is the main reason he joined Sunderland from Norwich, ignoring overtures from Everton and David Moyes — who signed him for Preston from Manchester City, where the Nigeria international returns on Monday.

When Keane came calling in the summer, Etuhu was shown around the training facilities while the manager stayed in his office, waiting to negotiate. It was to be a short conversation.

"I think one of the physios showed me round," recalled Etuhu. "We met for a chat in his office but he didn't have to sell the club.

"My mind was already made up. The facilities are amazing and this is a massive club. There were absolutely no doubts in my mind. I didn't even need to see the facilities and I knew how big the club was.

"The manager's confidence in me was all I needed. He wants to improve me. It is early days and it will take time but he has told me all the attributes I have and the ones I don't have. I now know what we have to work on and he is the perfect guy to teach me."

That Etuhu is learning from one of the game's greats is a miracle in itself. His old Manchester City team-mate and former flatmate Shaun Wright-Phillips would be astonished that he even knows who Keane is.

While the England ace was enveloped in the game throughout his childhood, Etuhu, 25, stumbled upon it as a teenager having reluctantly turned his back on a promising athletics career — and only because friends like Wright-Phillips enjoyed it so much.

"I enjoyed playing it but I was not that interested in it. I'd drive Shaun mad because it was obviously part of his life from a very young age and he knew everything about the game and every player.

"I did learn a lot from Shaun because he really understood the game. Living with him was a great time in my life, very happy.

"He hasn't grown since, either! I just wanted to enjoy myself with my mates, but as I got better and more into it, I enjoyed the buzz of scoring a goal, started to understand it, analyse it, take more interest in the game and the best players and I wanted to learn. Don't tell my missus, but it's the main love in my life now."

The lessons at Sunderland are tough. Etuhu picked up five bookings and a suspension in the first eight games of this season. Keane has had words and the player has not been booked since his return.

There have been rewards, such as his first call-up for Nigeria, only blighted by the theft of cash and a laptop from his hotel room while he was playing in a 2-2 draw with Mexico. "It happens," he said.

"One of those things. Life goes on."

But Sunderland are looking for their first away win in Monday's visit to City, where his younger brother Kelvin is a fringe first-team defender.

He said: "I still feel I am a long way from my potential. I am not as confident as I should be, like I was at Norwich, but I've just settled in. I've only been living up here for a few months and I feel I am still half the player I can be.

"Obviously the position of the team does not help but we have to keep working hard and all fight.

"We have a lot of key players coming back which will make a difference. It could be worse but we do have to improve and start picking up some wins."