WITH his triumphant Sunderland side still to get their hands on the Championship trophy, an angry Roy Keane last night branded the Football League's decision not to stage a presentation ceremony at Kenilworth Road a "disgrace".

The Black Cats claimed the Championship crown yesterday as they trounced Luton 5-0 while their title rivals, Birmingham, slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Preston.

But with Football League officials sticking to a policy of not awarding championship trophies on opposition soil, Sunderland's celebrations fell somewhat flat through no fault of their own.

Despite completing a lap of honour in front of around 4,000 euphoric fans, the club's players will not receive the trophy or their medals until they attend a private club function tonight.

And after a season that has seen the Black Cats recover from four defeats in their first four matches to finish two points clear at the top, Keane is clearly angry that the efforts of his squad have not been sufficiently acknowledged.

"It would have been nice to have received the trophy here at Luton," said the Sunderland boss. "But the Football League decided otherwise and it's a disgrace.

"Even if Birmingham had won it, I would feel the same. For a team to go to all the effort, for the fans to travel such long distances and pay good money, and for them not to see the team receive the trophy is a PR disaster.

"They mentioned safety reasons but that wouldn't have been a problem. There is security here, the police did a good job. I've received trophies at away grounds in the past and I can't get my head around it."

While Sunderland's victory was never in doubt following a two-goal salvo in the opening six minutes, their title success was not confirmed until Preston's Simon Whaley broke the deadlock at Deepdale in the 85th minute of that game.

News of Birmingham's impending defeat sparked jubilant scenes in all four corners of Kenilworth Road and, while Keane's outward resolve remained as steely as ever, even the Sunderland boss awarded himself a moment of inward celebration.

"I heard what was going on at Preston towards the end so I was pretty certain," he said. "If I was a betting man, I would have backed Preston to beat Birmingham.

"But our job was to focus on giving a good performance and that pleases me more than anything.

"We scored five cracking goals and played with great freedom. Luton had their pride to play for and they had a good go. But we would have beaten a lot of teams playing like that.

"We spoke before the game about doing our job and not worrying too much about what was going on elsewhere. The players were fantastic, their attitudes were terrific.

"It's nice, it finishes the season off nicely. If we had slipped up, I would have been pretty annoyed. It was important we did our job. If Birmingham had slipped up and we had slipped up as well, I would not have been too happy. It's nice to have something to show for our efforts this season."

With Sunderland desperate to atone for last year's record-breaking relegation, attention has already turned to next season's assault on the Premiership.

Keane will meet chairman Niall Quinn later this week to discuss a number of transfer targets and, with up to £25m likely to be made available to him this summer, the Irishman has admitted that his aims will stretch to more than simply avoiding an instant return to the Championship.

"We have a chance to reflect now," he added. "It's nice to go up as champions. There's a massive challenge ahead. I will meet with Niall and see what funds are available.

"I have players in my mind but that's just the start. They are good players at good clubs, on good contracts. We'll just have to wait and see.

"It's important we relax for a few days first though. You have to set your standards very high and raise the bar.

"It will be hard. I'm not predicting we will win it but, with lads we have and with one or two more, and with the spirit we have, we will have a go. I'm not going to be happy with just avoiding relegation."