Roy Keane will head into the transfer market once again this week knowing his Sunderland dream is in serious danger of turning into a nightmare.

The Wearsiders headed into the new season brimming with optimism after the Irishman had inspired them to the Coca-Cola Championship title.

However, half a season or so and £36million on, they are engaged in a desperate fight for Barclays Premier League survival with confidence rapidly dwindling.

Keane insisted on arriving back on the stage where he himself had performed for so long with such distinction that they were not there simply to make up the numbers, and has steadfastly refused even to countenance the "S" word.

He remains convinced they will achieve more than that, but having seen his admittedly much-changed side dismantled by what was in large part Wigan's reserve team as they fell at the first FA Cup hurdle, the alarm bells must be ringing.

In the immediate aftermath of the game, the Black Cats boss admitted he was ashamed at a woefully sub-standard performance, and that was significant: Keane does not do shame, nor regret, and it was clearly a painful experience for him.

Having managed to secure Manchester United defender Jonny Evans' return on loan until the end of the season - the youngster had a day to forget against Wigan - the former Republic of Ireland skipper will attempt to attract as many as four new signings to the Stadium of Light this week.

It is a task he knows will be made no easier by Saturday's display, but he will respond in the only way he knows how to.

Keane said: "Listen, how many games have we lost this year? We have lost lots of games this year.

"I sound like an old record player, but we have got to work harder, we have got to bring in one or two players and we keep persevering.

"You have to persevere in life. We have a tough game (against Portsmouth) next week.

"We gave players a chance on Saturday, we are chopping and changing, we are bringing players in.

"We brought Jonny back in and we will maybe have one or two for next week - but that is a big if."

Keane, who has been linked with the likes of Celtic defender Bobo Balde, Reading duo Stephen Hunt and Leroy Lita, Blackburn's Robbie Savage and Derby's David Jones, while a decision on Quinton Fortune is expected this week, was without several key men through injury and suspension on Saturday, and the lack of depth in his squad was cruelly exposed.

Even so, Wigan defender Paul Scharner could scarcely believe his luck when he found himself in front of goal without a red and white shirt in sight to head home Josip Skoko's 19th-minute free-kick.

If Sunderland had been careless on that occasion, they were comically inept 11 minutes after the break when, in his effort to atone for Evans' dreadful back-pass, Paul McShane succeeded only in blasting the ball into his own net.

Substitute David Cotterill did not need a helping hand to arrow home a third 14 minutes from time, and had Craig Gordon not got his fingers to Michael Brown's late effort to turn it against the post, Keane's fury might have reached new heights.

He said: "If we had been here until next week, we wouldn't have scored, which surprised me because generally at home, we have looked a threat.

"But we have to get back and focus on our league form, we do not have a choice.

"That's our bread and butter. We will get back to that and it is a tough game for us next week."

Former United team-mate Steve Bruce admitted top-flight survival is his main priority, but knows a cup run could contribute towards that target.

He said: "We have given ourselves a chance in the league. After the Bolton game, I thought we were going to be marooned - we were only two points ahead of Derby at the time and we had four or five games against the top 10 teams in the country.

"To turn it around has been very, very pleasing, and all credit to the players.

"You can see there is a little bit of confidence, a little bit of belief coming back, and when you are like that, it is a little bit easier than trying to get a team out of a rut, which they were in."

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