Roy Keane has identified Kenwyne Jones and Craig Gordon as Sunderland's “untouchables”, with the manager advising rival clubs not to waste their time by bidding for his leading striker and first-choice goalkeeper. In his debut season in the Barclays Premier League, Jones, 23, has been watched by Liverpool, drawing comparisons to Didier Drogba, of Chelsea.

Jones has scored seven goals for a team who have spent much of the campaign battling relegation and is rated by John Terry, the Chelsea and England defender, as the toughest aerial opponent he has faced. Sunderland paid Southampton £6million for the Trinidad & Tobago forward last summer, but Keane emphasised his resistance to admirers by valuing him at £40million. “Kenwyne is a player we have no intention of letting go,” the Irishman said. “He's not for sale. When you look at Kenwyne and our goalkeeper, you'd say they're definitely not going anywhere.”

Keane prompted surprise when he spent £9million on signing Gordon from Heart of Midlothian nine months ago, but he believes that the investment is justified. “I think he's a brilliant goalkeeper,” the manager said. “This year he's done OK for us, but I've no doubt that in the next few years he will become one of the best in world, if not the best.

“What he's lacking at the moment is experience, particularly in the Premier League. He played at Hearts and for Scotland, but there's no bigger test than this for a goalkeeper, particularly in our team this season. He has been tested, he really has. We could have done with two keepers. But biggest plusses for our first year in the division have been him and Kenwyne. I look at them and they want to learn.”