SUNDERLAND MANAGER Roy Keane insists his real education starts now after gaining his UEFA Pro Licence last week.

A year after starting the course, Keane graduated at Warwick University along with academy coach Kevin Ball.

The former Manchester United midfielder believes his studies were "worth every minute," and has encouraged his players to follow his lead, but he insists the sternest examinations will come with the job.

"Instead of thinking that it's over now, I think this is where my learning really starts," Keane said.

"Sometimes people think 'I've done my badges, it's done now and I'm qualified', but I think all my qualifications will come over the next 20 or 30 years of experiences of working with teams.

"Trust me, you've got to keep raising the bar and I'm quite comfortable with that. The coaches around me and the people I'm working with, it's testing them and making sure they're raising the bar.

"I've spoken to my players and said to them: 'When you get a chance in the summer, get your coaching qualifications.

"Dwight (Yorke) is in the process of doing his B-badge. I wish I had done it earlier, but when you're young you probably get four or five weeks off and you just want to go on holiday.

"It's been hectic, but it's been worth every minute."

Keane has, meanwhile, already turned his attention to pre-season training which gets under way on Friday and insists mere survival is no longer a sufficient ambition for the upwardly-mobile Black Cats.

"We knew last year was all about staying in the Premiership, which we managed to do, and next year the aim is to try to build on that," he told Sunderland website www.safc.com.

"Obviously, we want to do better than last season - even though we achieved what we wanted to achieve, which was staying in the Premiership."