Keane stressed he could neither offer nor receive any assurances about his future after yesterday's dismal 4-1 home defeat by Bolton, and painted a bleak picture of the remainder of the season for the Black Cats.

Keane, whose current deal expires at the end of the season, said: "I don't think it's a case of discussing a new contract or what (chairman) Niall (Quinn) or the owners feel. Whatever they're feeling, we're feeling the same.

"It's a disappointment. We always said the table would take shape after eight, nine or 10 games and we are where we are and we all know that it's not good enough."

Keane will spend this morning pondering the future, just like he claims to do on a daily basis, and he may come to a grim conclusion after watching his side press the self-destruct button once again at the Stadium of Light.

Djibril Cisse opened the scoring for the home side but calamitous defensive errors cost them dear as Matt Taylor and Gary Cahill turned the match in Bolton's favour and Johan Elmander's brace added to the misery.

Sunderland have spent £80million on players under Keane's tenure and currently have a whole team out on loan, and the Irishman accepts he has no right to go begging to the board for more resources.

"We can't bring anybody in until January and there won't be anything major," he said. "We've still got the option of a loan player but I've brought enough players in.

"I could easily sit here and say I haven't had the chance but I've brought in lots and lots of players. As a manager, I have absolutely no excuses.

"As a manager, you've got to look at where you can improve and what you've got to sort out. You've got to look for characters in your dressing room and at your performance and where you can do better."

Things had looked decidedly brighter when Cisse clinically finished off a fine 11th-minute move involving Kieran Richardson and Steed Malbranque to give his side an encouraging start.

But Taylor's looping header over the returning Craig Gordon and Cahill's low shot through a crowded box gave the visitors - already buoyant from last week's win at Middlesbrough - the lead within eight minutes.

Cisse had a potential equaliser ruled out after referee Chris Foy decided fellow striker Kenwyne Jones had fouled in the box, before Sunderland's series of howlers gifted the impressive Trotters the points.

Shortly after missing from a tight angle having rounding a stranded Gordon, Elmander made amends when Danny Collins missed a clearance on the right, racing through to strike home a clean left-footed effort.

And early in the second half, Elmander repeated the feat when Kevin Davies pounced on hesitation by Dean Whitehead to send the Swede through to finish in similar style.

In stark contrast to Sunderland's woes, Bolton's third consecutive win sent them soaring up to seventh place and delighted boss Gary Megson, who is slowly beginning to win over his side's supporters.

Megson said: "To come away and score four goals is a great testament to the quality of the players. Even when results weren't going for us, we were playing well and now we are scoring goals, people are recognising we do play some decent stuff."

But Megson revealed his side's good form could be hit by an injury to Taylor, one of the stars of his club's recent revival, who was forced to come off at half-time due to injury.

Megson said: "It's not a huge problem but he had a bit of a thigh complaint. We are hoping that Matty will be okay because that is four goals in 10 games for him now."