TWELVE months ago Roy Keane was on holiday when he got the call from Niall Quinn, the chairman at the Stadium of Light, asking him to become the new manager of Sunderland.

Almost a year on, Keane was doing the dialling, interrupting holidays in the process. Russell Anderson, the £1m signing from Aberdeen, was glad he did.

Given the loyalty he has shown at Pittodrie for more than a decade, Anderson would not be disrespectful enough to play down the importance of the Scottish Premier League.

But the 28-year-old feels he has spent long enough plying his trade north of the border, and preparing for the Premier League represents a whole new challenge.

Instead of taking on Hearts' finest this weekend, Anderson will instead be competing against the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent of Tottenham Hotspur.

Given that there had also been interest from Fulham and Middlesbrough, a move to the Premier League always looked likely.

Signing on at Sunderland, however, was something that came as a complete surprise.

"It did come out of the blue to a certain extent. I got word there was an interest and once I heard that the two clubs had reached an agreement, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to come here and see what Sunderland had to say," said Anderson, the Scotland centre-back.

"I was in Florida when I first heard. My agent rang to tell me and it developed over the course of the holiday. Just before I travelled home, I heard that a fee had been agreed and that it was up to me to get to Sunderland and finalise the move. I couldn't wait.

"It made the holiday even better, although I tried not to think about it too much. I was out there with my family and, to a certain extent, we wanted to get away from football for a couple of weeks and just enjoy ourselves.

"We didn't talk about it too much, but it was always in the back of my mind."

When Anderson returned home he quickly made the trip to Wearside to meet Keane. During the discussion, the Sunderland boss was quick to single out the moment when Anderson first caught the Irishman's eye.

Considering it was during the six months Keane spent with Celtic at the start of last year, you would imagine it must have been an impressive outing.

But Abe r d e e n w e r e defeated 3-0. All three goals came in the last half hour at Celtic Park on March 4, 2006. The first hour, though, must have been decent.

"The manager has said he remembers me from the game I played against him and that's when his interest started,"

recalled Anderson.

"Celtic's always a good place to go and play and I must have done something right for him to have taken notice.

I guess it's the ultimate endorsement for a footballer to catch the eye of someone like him.

"At the time, I was just concentrating on doing a job for Aberdeen and although it was great to play against Roy Keane, I didn't give it any more thought than that. I never imagined that it would lead to something like this.

It must have stuck in his mind and that's great.

"I can't wait for the Premier League. It's a huge challenge and I'm looking forward to it immensely.

I've spent a long time in Scotland and I needed a different challenge. I couldn't have found one much bigger than this."

Given Anderson has never experienced anything other than football life at Pittodrie, Keane has taken a gamble in punting for the man from Aberdeen.

More than 300 starts for his former club highlights his value in the SPL, while the fact he donated his loyalty bonus - worth almost £100,000 - to the Aberdeen Academy which helped develop him is a sign of his character.

That was one of his major traits singled out by chairman Quinn, who has been working hard on assessing summer targets before pursuing them this summer. Anderson, however, is not looking too far into his gesture of good will.

"It was strange to leave Aberdeen after such a long time, there's no getting away from that," said the Scotland defender, who hopes to add to his seven caps following his move to the North-East.

"I've been made to feel more than welcome and from that point of view it has been good. I don't really want to talk about that (donating fee to Aberdeen), but people have been interested.

"It is quite an unusual situation but I'm sure the money will be put to good use because things are tight up there. I hope they can use it to progress and help more young players make it into the first team. If that's the case, I will be more than pleased that I've given back to the club."