Kenwyne Jones missed Sunderland's first away win of the season because of a virus, according to Roy Keane.

Speaking after the 1-0 win at Aston Villa, Keane said that the club doctor had said that Jones was "not right" to play after picking up the unknown virus, which could (coincidentally) stop him from making the long haul return flight to the Caribbean to play for Trinidad and Tobago this week.

Keane said: "Kenwyne could not train yesterday, he has a virus. I spoke to the doctor yesterday and he told me that Kenwyne was not right. The temptation is always to take a risk with players but it would not have been fair. We had to leave him behind. The other strikers did well, credit to them."

Michael Chopra's 83rd minute goal was enough to give us the win and lift us to four points clear of the bottom three - and Keane was happy with the performance his side turned in.

The Sunderland boss added: "I thought it was a good performance, we created one or two chances and we hung in there. We got through a sticky patch in the second half and we took the opportunity when it came our way.

"A lot of times this season we've been on the losing end of 1-0 scorelines and it was nice to turn it around, I think we just about deserved it. We knew we would have to be solid and we were. We managed to get over the finishing line.

"It was a great ball by Kieran and when he was through on goal I did fancy (Chopra) to score. It's been tough for him this season, he's had to play out of position a lot so I'm pleased for him.

"I thought the back-four was outstanding, the two centre-backs were immense against some good strikers. Nuggsy got a few knocks and he was a warrior today. It's a big three points but the only time to gauge it is at the end of the season.

"It's especially good for the supporters, again I thought they were magnificent. They follow us all over so it's nice for them to get their rewards."