Sunderland manager Roy Keane has vowed not to repeat last summer's mistakes when he enters the transfer market at the end of the season.Following promotion to the Premier League, Keane spent heavily in an attempt to assemble a squad capable of avoiding relegation.

Though the Black Cats are on course for survival, several of the Irishman's signings, such as Greg Halford and Russell Anderson, have had no impact at the Stadium of Light.

Keane has acknowledged the errors he made 12 months ago, but is confident he is now in a better position when he looks for new signings at the end of the season.

"I made mistakes last summer," said Keane. "We did a lot of deals before getting back to pre-season [training].

"I won't be making that mistake again. I won't be making 30 or 40 phone calls every day like I did last summer.

"I spoke to [chief executive] Peter Walker 20 times a day. It was unbelievable. That's the first real experience I've had of it.

"I bought one or two last summer and look now and think I should've stepped back from the deals. That's part of the learning curve. I'll be in a stronger position to do that this summer.

"I've spoken to a lot of managers since and they've told me you have to let people do their jobs. I'll identify my targets, have a couple of weeks' holiday and switch the phone off.

"A lot of the deals won't be done until after the summer. A lot of players go on holidays as well, so it's impossible to try to meet up with them. That's something I did last summer which I won't this time around.

"The season finishes in May. Then there are the European Championships, so there's a lot going on and there will be no time to see players."

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