GARY Megson has laughed off suggestions that victory over Roy Keane’s Sunderland on Saturday could put the Irishman’s job under pressure.

Wanderers head to the Stadium of Light sitting comfortably in mid-table with three wins from their last four games. In contrast, the Black Cats are teetering just a point and a place above the relegation zone.

Typically, Keane has hidden his feelings during the dip in form, dropping high-profile signings such as El-Hadji Diouf and Djibril Cisse and recently questioning the fitness levels of the Scottish and Irish contingent within the squad.

And even though Megson has no such worries ahead of the game on Saturday, he has backed the former Manchester United star to guide the Wearsiders away from danger.

“I think he is doing a great job there,” he explained. “I have got a lot of time for the bloke.

I think he says a lot of things that we would all like to say, if we had the clout and kudos of Roy Keane.

“When he went up there I think they were struggling in the Championship. I know he has had a lot of money to spend but that in itself puts a lot of onus and pressure on the manager.

“To be where they were to where they are now in Roy’s first job, I’m sure everyone at Sunderland would have settled for that.”

Keane, pictured, led Sunderland to promotion in his first campaign in charge before keeping them up with two games to spare last season.

Megson has been impressed with the former United skipper’s early years in management, even though he accepts that many so-called greats do not handle the transition with quite as much success.

“Being a great player is fine but it is an entirely different walk of life in management and coaching,” he said.

“The analogy I use is just because an engineer can mend the plane doesn’t mean he can fly it in 10 years time “It is entirely different – it’s a really steep learning curve and one that I think Roy has handled brilliantly.”

Victory on Saturday could conceivably take Wanderers into the top seven. Defeat could suck them back towards the bottom three.

“You might say Sunderland are struggling but I have never seen a division, nevermind the Premier League, as tight as this,” Megson added.

“We were looking at the Wigan-Everton game on Monday night and not knowing which way we wanted it to go. If you are doing well, you want Wigan to win because you are looking upwards and we’re only two points off seventh place.

“Yet looking the other way, we’re three points off the relegation zone having won three of our last four games. I have never known anything like it.”