CRAIG Moore's agent last night claimed that Sunderland had declared an interest in the 31-year-old centre-half.

But while Roy Keane is understood to have considered a short-term move for the Australian in the past, it is extremely unlikely that he will make a renewed approach to a player who has been deemed surplus to requirements at St James' Park.

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce confirmed that Moore would not be offered a new contract at St James' Park yesterday morning and, within hours, the defender's agent, John Viola, told the Sydney press that his client was on the wanted list of the Magpies' North-East rivals.

"Craig's back in Australia after the season and we are looking at all options," said Viola.

"I know for a fact that Sunderland want to sign him, and we'll also see what the options are here (in Australia)."

Viola's comments suggest that Keane is still actively pursuing Moore's services, but the Sunderland boss is understood to have dropped his interest in the defender months ago.

Keane, who has also been linked with a possible move for Fulham centre-half Zat Knight, considered a number of defensive options when he replaced Niall Quinn last August, and eventually decided to sign veteran centre-half Stanislav Varga from Celtic.

Moore was one of the defenders who were briefly considered at that stage, but with a £25m transfer kitty available to him this summer, it would be a major surprise if the Irishman opted to rekindle his interest ahead of Sunderland's return to the top-flight.

Keane is much more interested in signing Preston striker David Nugent, but his hopes look like being dashed as the England international closes in on a move to Everton.

Nugent has already confirmed that will leave Deepdale this summer, and the 22-year-old yesterday revealed that Goodison Park was his preferred destination.

"I've been linked with them since I was first at Preston," said the striker. "I'd love to join Everton, the club I supported as a boy and always wanted to play for."

Keane's desire to sign Nugent underlines the extent of Sunderland's ambition following this season's Championship triumph.

The Black Cats boss has already claimed that his club will not be making up the Premiership numbers next season, but veteran midfielder Dwight Yorke has sounded a note of caution as expectations continue to increase.

The former Trinidad & Tobago international has claimed that a top-six finish will be a realistic expectation eventually but, after representing Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn and Birmingham in the top-flight, the 35-year-old has warned Sunderland supporters not to expect too much, too soon.

"It has been a magnificent first season for the gaffer and expectations are now very high for next year," said Yorke. "I think we all have to take a bit of a step back and just realise what the boss has managed to do in such a short space of time.

"We have to realise that promotion was achieved very quickly and so I hope that doesn't send expectations through the roof.

"We have a lot of building to do and, as the gaffer says, we have not achieved anything other than promotion so far."