He said: “Roy is proving a top-drawer manager. Only time will tell how good he can become. What he has brought to the table, his way of thinking and what he is trying to do to progress this club has impressed everyone.
“I see a lot of Sir Alex in him. Roy Keane is his own man, but he has taken some of the great man with him into management.
“He has learned from him. You can see that in the way he deals with situations. You can see similarities between them. As a player, you don’t want to cross either of them.
“They are winners. They expect to win.”
Yorke added: “Was Roy the most driven player I ever played with? Definitely, even in training. He could give you it like never before and you would think: `It’s only training.’ But he would say: `If you train well, you’ll play well.’
“You might not be doing it and he would still be driving away at you. He would have a moan – he was a great moaner – but with good reason.
“When you look back now you realise it was all to do with bettering yourself. He has instilled that same attitude here at Sunderland now that he is a manager.
“It doesn’t matter what it is – five-a-side, table tennis or golf – you must want to win everything. That is what he is trying to instill into the players here.
“And you can see them changing because of what he is asking them to do. He has their respect.”
