Sunderland's Craig Gordon spills the beans on Roy Keane

He is still one of the most feared men in football - but when Roy Keane sets foot on Sunderland's five-a-side pitch, he's fair game.

The Black Cats begin pre-season training today and goalkeeper Craig Gordon has revealed how they relish getting stuck into their manager on the odd occasion he takes part in the kickabouts.

It is their sweet, if brief, moment of payback for all the flying tea cups and hair-dryer blasts they have to endure from the fiery Irish hard-man.

And the best bit is Keane cannot retaliate as he would have in the past, because they know he will not risk injuring any of his highly-paid Stadium of Light stars.

Gordon revealed: "Most of the time the manager tends to stand back and watch training, but now and again he takes part in the five-a-sides.

"He tackles and people put tackles in on him because they see it as a chance to kick the manager - and you don't get that chance very often!

"It's a game of football and if the ball is there to be won, you go for it, no matter who you're tackling. I'm sure the manager would not expect anything else from the players.

"Although you can see he's still a great player, he doesn't tackle as hard because I don't think he would want to injure one of his own players."

Despite targeting Keane on the five-a-side pitch, none of the Sunderland players would dare tackle him off it and Gordon admits he is totally respected by his lads.

Britain's most expensive keeper added: "It's not a fear of him, but I'd say there is an aura about him.

"When he walks into a room, everyone sits up. And when he speaks, you listen.

"When he tells you he wants something done a particular way, you know you had better do it that way.

"He does tend to keep a bit of distance from the players and he's very much the manager, but he has 100 per cent respect from every player because of what he has achieved in his career.

"We'll be training and when the manager comes to the touchline, everyone tries to raise their performance that extra bit to impress him."

Gordon, 25, claims there is much more to Keane than his menacing persona and says he knows when to rant and when to be measured.

He also has bottle and told the Scotland star to his face, rather than leave it to one of his coaches, when he was briefly dropped last season.

Gordon, a member of Under Armour's UK elite athlete stable, found being axed for the first time in his career hard to take, but still appreciated boss Keane's handling of the difficult situation.

The £9million stopper said: "He knows how to be measured in his response. If he thinks something needs to be said, he won't shy away from it whether what he has to say is good or bad.

"Sometimes he'll have his say straight after a match, other times, he'll leave it until during the week and sometimes he just talks calmly.

"He understands that each situation is different and so needs to be handled differently."

The Black Cats were the only promoted side to stay up last season, but Keane, who has spent the summer picking up tips from the New Zealand All Blacks and completing his UEFA pro-licence, will not be satisfied with just surviving again.

He wants more - and Gordon says the gaffer is right to raise expectation levels.

He said: "That's got to be the challenge for us. Just staying up isn't enough and we've got to move the club on to the next level. That means pushing on into that next bracket of clubs in mid-table and ultimately Europe.

"We know the manager has high expectations - and we are all determined to make sure we reach the targets he sets for us."

Otherwise it will be Keano who is putting the boot into them.