Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate revealed he has struck up an unlikely friendship with his managerial counterpart at Sunderland ahead of today's Tees-Wear derby.

Southgate let slip he met Roy Keane on a coaching course early last season, while they were both making their first tentative steps as a managers, and says they hit it off immediately.

This revelation might be surprising to many who saw the pair clash as players for their respective clubs, Manchester United and Crystal Palace, in the 1995 FA Cup semi-final replay.

There was already some bad blood between the sides following Eric Cantona's Kung-Fu kick on a Palace supporter in a Premier League contest prior to the cup tie.

And emotions were still running high when the teams met again to compete in the last-four contest at Villa Park - none more so than between Keane and Southgate.

Southgate caught Keane, with a challenge the Black Cats boss admitted was fair in his autobiography, but he still stamped on the prostrate Palace defender and earned the first red card of the 11 he would go on to receive in the British game.

The Boro boss says there has never been any ill will between the pair and accepted being trodden on was all part of the game.

"It is a man's game and if you're on the floor you're in trouble," quipped Southgate about the incident.

Keane yesterday said the stamp wasn't a personal thing. "These things happen in games," he said. "I think it was his team-mate who'd wound me up. I've played against Gareth many times since and we speak a bit and it's not come up in the conversation."

Southgate added: "We had a couple of reserve games at each other's training grounds and had a good chat about how we were finding management.

"It was the first time I had sat down and talked with him (on the course), but I knew from mutual friends that he was an intelligent guy and he would do well, and that has proven to be the case."

Much has been made of Keane's startling transformation from the snarling, vicious and vindictive aggressor of his playing days to calmness personified.

Southgate says people have placed too much emphasis on Keane's characteristics and believes most are wide of the mark in their judgement.

He said: "We only see people on the field and you never see anyone's entire character on the field. You get glimpses of people's characters that way, but until you meet them you don't actually know people.

"In everybody there is more to them than the obvious. I suspect the manager is just as driven as the player was and just as much a winner.

"It would be strange if we behaved as we did when we were players as managers; jumping up and down on the sidelines doesn't seem right.

"We did keep in touch last season but it is a bit different now we are in the same league. I enjoy speaking to him and there are a lot of misconceptions about him.

"I've a feeling we might come across each other quite a bit in the future.

"Unfortunately he is not playing for them (Sunderland) and fortunately for us, I'm not playing for us."

Southgate, meanwhile, is backing Tunçay Sanli to put a turbulent week behind him and realise his full potential at the club over the next few months.

The Turkey international, who is set to replace injured Jeremie Aliadiere today, was quoted as saying he was unsettled at the club while on international duty.