Roy Keane makes his Premier League managerial debut this lunchtime and the Sunderland boss has urged his players to make "their own piece of history" over the course of the next nine months.

Keane will lead out the Black Cats as they entertain Tottenham in the opening match of the season, with a capacity Stadium of Light crowd eager to welcome the return of top-flight football.

Last season's Championship triumph has been celebrated throughout the summer but, in typically under-stated fashion, Keane has already consigned what he considers to be a limited success to the history books. Instead, the Irishman has been devoting his undivided attention to the new campaign.

The word "survival" has already been banned, along with any talk of scraping into 17th place, and while he is well aware that this year's challenge will be far greater than the one faced last season, Keane has challenged his players to make an impact that will be remembered forever.

"This team and these players need to make their mark at this football club," said the Sunderland boss, who will hand record signing Craig Gordon a debut just three days after he completed a £9m move from Hearts.

"We look at the pictures in the dressing room and there are lots of players who played 400 or 500 games and played their part.

"I would like some of our players to create something so that they're remembered. You want to leave your mark, and I want these players to be remembered for doing something good.

"We are aiming to bring trophies to the club. But as much as we want to do well, we have to remember that we can't run before we can walk.

"We have to build and stabilise the club in the Premier League. It hasn't done that for a few years now. But, ultimately, we want to leave our mark and win things. Of course it's going to be tough, but we have to hope we can achieve something and we believe we can do that in the next few years."

Mick McCarthy entered the top-flight with similar ambitions two years ago, only for Sunderland to be relegated with the lowest points total in Premier League history.

Back then, an opening-day home defeat to Charlton set the tone for a demoralising campaign, with the Black Cats' players often appearing to be in awe of some of their more exalted opponents.

Tottenham will arrive on Wearside today harbouring hopes of a top-four finish, and the purchase of both Darren Bent and the injured Gareth Bale underlines the extent of Martin Jol's ambition at White Hart Lane.

After spending more than a decade at Manchester United, Keane is well aware of the psychological stranglehold the leading clubs are able to exert.

So while he is mindful of Tottenham's quality, he will spend the final minutes before kick-off convincing his players that they have "nothing to fear" from life in the top flight.

"Lots of teams are beaten before they play the big sides," admitted Keane, who was a childhood Tottenham fan as he grew up in his native Ireland, thanks to the presence at White Hart Lane of Glenn Hoddle.

"When I was a player, I just had to look at them in the tunnel and I knew they were beaten. Beaten by our history and beaten by the jersey and the crest.

"The (New York) Yankees won a lot of baseball games just because of their stripes, Real Madrid won football matches before they had even kicked a ball.

"We cannot go in there to face any team thinking we are already beaten, far from it. That's my job as manager, and it's what I enjoy - pushing the players to the limit. We have to go up there, enjoy it and be up for the challenge."

" I've been there as a player and let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing to be scared of. There is nothing for my players to be fearful of at all."

While Sunderland's players will be thrust into the limelight this season following a spell in the Football League, much of the early attention will be focused on Keane's run-ins with the some of the most opinionated managers in the English game.

The Irishman is hardly a shrinking violet himself, and while he largely kept his emotions under control in the Championship, it will be fascinating to see how he adapts to a Premier League environment he already describes as "cut-throat".

"I found that Championship managers could not have been more helpful," said Keane, who is hoping that Greg Halford shakes off a hamstring strain to make his debut at right-back. "But I think this will be a little bit different.

"Some managers in the Premier League don't seem to be pals at all, then others seem to be in awe of other managers, and one instantly springs to mind.

"I went to the managers' dinner at the end of last season and there were some nice managers out there, but it was usually just, 'Hello, how are you doing, goodbye'."

Sunderland midfielder Dean Whitehead has signed a contract extension which ties him to the Wearside club until 2012.

Whitehead was appointed Black Cats captain last season having joined the club from Oxford in 2004.