The former Manchester United midfielder left Marton Fulop, Tobias Hysen and Anthony Stokes on Wearside after they turned up late for the team coach on Friday, but saw his side beat Barnsley 2-0 to close within three points of second-placed Derby.

Goals from Grant Leadbitter and David Connolly extended the Black Cats' unbeaten Coca-Cola Championship run to 11 games and fully vindicated Keane's stance.

He said: "You have got to be on time and you have got to respect your team-mates.

"I have told the players on numerous occasions about the importance of respecting your team-mates and being on time.

"There are good people at Sunderland and people need to take notice of what we are trying to do. One or two individuals will not spoil that."

With Birmingham having returned to the top of the table after Friday night's 1-0 win over Derby, Sunderland's victory piled the pressure on West Brom ahead of Sunday's Black Country derby clash with Wolves at the Hawthorns.

And it was Keane's former foe Mick McCarthy who was wearing the smile after substitute Jay Bothroyd's 83rd-minute winner put Wanderers fourth, just a point behind his former employers.

McCarthy said: "They keep tipping Sunderland to win it, we are only a point behind them, so hopefully we can tag along on their coat-tails and keep ticking along nicely."

Cardiff strengthened their own claims with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norwich with Paul Berry's third-minute strike enough to clinch the points.

But it was a bad day for two of the other promotion chasers as Preston and Southampton both slipped to away defeats.

North End went down 2-0 at struggling Hull as Nicky Forster and David Livermore struck either side of half-time to drag their club out of the relegation zone.

However, Preston manager Paul Simpson was left fuming after referee Mike Pike decided not to issue a red card for a terrible fourth-minute challenge by midfielder John Welsh - who suffered a suspected broken leg for his pains - on Neil Mellor.

He said: "The referee allowed an absolutely disgraceful challenge to go unpunished.

"That was a straight red card. He should have been red-carded and then they play for 88 minutes with 10 men. Maybe after that, it is a different story."

The Saints led 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium courtesy of Marek Saganowski's 17th-minute strike, but Stoke hit back through Jonathan Fortune and Lee Martin to snatch victory.

Goals from Carl Fletcher and Ben Watson saw Crystal Palace ease to victory over Leicester, while Colchester and Coventry played out a stalemate at Layer Road and Martin Rowlands' 72nd-minute penalty earned QPR a point after Chris Brunt had fired visitors Sheffield Wednesday ahead.

There were morale-boosting victories for bottom two Leeds and Southend.

Richard Cresswell snatched three precious points for the Yorkshiremen at home to Luton with goalkeeper Casper Ankergren saving a late Dean Morgan penalty, while the Shrimpers left Ipswich with a 2-0 win thanks to Mark Gower and Peter Clarke.

In League One, leaders Scunthorpe fought back to claim a 1-1 home draw against Nottingham Forest, while Walsall closed the gap to League Two table-toppers Hartlepool to three points with a 1-0 home win over Chester.