Last chance saloon for Stokes as Keane warns him: Stay in shape

The former Arsenal junior has had a chequered start to his Sunderland career, but Keane has persevered with his £2million signing from the Gunners, having seen off competition from Celtic and Charlton when he signed him.

Keane revealed several players were called into his office before they departed for their summer break, with Michael Chopra, Kieran Richardson and Ross Wallace among others believed to have received a pep-talk.

One last chance: Anthony Stokes (left) needs to improve

Keane said Stokes has returned for pre-season training in excellent shape and the Sunderland boss is encouraged by his attitude in the early days.

He added: 'I’ve been clear about which way his career could go, but he’s back in decent shape and so are others who were concerned about their own futures.

'They want to be part of Sunderland and that’s good for me. But we shouldn’t really be praising players too much just for coming back to pre-season training in half decent shape.

'The days when you came back a stone overweight are gone. I know I went back to Forest a stone over after my first summer, and that had nothing to do with Mars Bars.

'I’d much rather be talking about them at Christmas for being in tip top form. Anthony has shown a good side, but there are still question marks over him. There are question marks over everyone here, including the staff.

'You’ve got to have that edge. There are one or two players I spoke to at the end of last season asking them if they wanted to stay and their reaction since they came back has been they do and want to stay and fight for their place.'