Cats are a step up from Celtic.

Byline: By Stuart Rayner

They are one of the world's most famous football clubs, former European Cup winners and perennial champions of their country.

Such is the lure of Glasgow Celtic Football Club that throughout his time as captain of Manchester United, Roy Keane openly expressed a burning desire to wear the famous green-and-white hoops before he ended his illustrious playing career.

Sunderland, by contrast, are not so much a sleeping giant as a comatose one. The once-famous club stand 14th in this morning's Championship table and while Keane's appointment as manager has raised hopes that they might once again re-establish themselves as a force in the top flight, that is still some way off.

Whether it is just a footballer diplomatically saying what he thinks his new fans want to hear or not, Ross Wallace is adamant that moving from Glasgow to Wearside represents promotion, not demotion.

"I think the Championship is a better standard than the Scottish Premier League," says the left-sided midfielder.

"Away from Celtic and Rangers, the standard of football in Scotland is not the same as I've seen since I've joined Sunderland."

Wallace was given a glowing recommendation of his new club by another man to play in midfield for both sides.

The player went on: "I knew Colin Healy and kept in touch with him. He told me it was a magnificent place and I knew I was coming to a massive club. They shouldn't be sitting in the Championship, they should be in the Premiership, and hopefully with the players we have, we can get them there."

The standard of Championship football has been raised by the addition of Wallace, Graham Kavanagh, David Connolly, Stanislav Varga, Dwight Yorke and Liam Miller, all of whom joined the Black Cats on deadline day.

But what makes the division so challenging is the evenness of the competition, with no less than 16 former Premiership clubs vying for supremacy. The point was illustrated when the revitalised Black Cats took on struggling Leicester City last week and ended up relieved to scrape a 1-1 draw.

"There are some good teams and it's going to be a tough league to get out of," says Wallace. "I think Birmingham will be looking to get up. We're thinking the same but if somebody goes on a good run they could find themselves right up there. When it comes to Christmas time, you'll have a better look and try to push for promotion. Leicester came to our place in the bottom half of the league but they played extremely well against us."

As well as showing the depth of the league, it also illustrates how expectations have changed for a team which only a month ago were bottom of the Championship.

Wallace admitted: "There was a bit of disappointment against Leicester. Performance-wise, I didn't think we played as well as we could. Looking back on the game, I think a point was a fair result."

Today's match pits the Wearsiders against another famous former Premiership club and it is the unrelenting nature of the competition which illustrates Wallace's point.

Suddenly having become the prize scalp of the division brings its own pressures but the Dundee-born midfielder believes the squad is well equipped to cope.

"The Ipswich game is going to be another tough one, but we've been looking good whenever we've played away from home recently," he says. "Hopefully, we can get three points. It's going to be difficult. There are a lot of good opponents, but we have a big squad full of lads who are ready, stripped and hoping to come in and hold down a place in the team. That should be good for the squad because it will keep everybody on their toes. Hopefully, we'll be able to get the best out of everybody."

Wallace can see the similarity between his former and his current club, not least in their fanatical followings.

Where Sunderland have flexed their muscles the most in the Keane era is in their away support, bringing 5,000 fans to Pride Park and Elland Road, and Wallace added: "Taking 5,000 supporters to an away game is incredible. Hopefully if we're on a run, we can fill the stadium a bit more. The potential and support is massive.

"Everybody raised their game against Celtic and they'll be trying harder against Sunderland just because they're playing against us. When teams played against Celtic and Rangers, they gave that little bit more.

"The away support gives you a buzz to give it that little bit extra," he says. "Hopefully, if we get on a run we can make the stadium a real fortress."