Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane has slammed former club Aston Villa for their attitude towards losing.

Keane acted as assistant to Paul Lambert at Villa Park between July 2014 and November 2014, before stepping down to concentrate on his national team role.

The former Manchester United midfielder has hinted that Villa's struggles, which have seen them relegated from the Premier League this season, are down to their losing mentality and the players' attitude to defeats.

"[At Manchester United] we had a culture where, if you were beaten on a Saturday, people talk about bouncing back and moving on quickly — but Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, lads would still be fuming, and I loved that," Keane told The Sun.

"When I went to Aston Villa, Paul Lambert said to me, 'We have a policy where, if we have a bad result at the weekend, we stew on it for 24 hours and move on quickly'. And I said, 'Well, I can't do that'. For me, it might be closer to 24 days. Obviously, Villa were used to it, I wasn't.

"I couldn't understand the environment where everyone is laughing and joking on the Monday after a bad game. At Sunderland, people thought that I used to drag the week down — you're dead right I did. I was used to winning, it was a good habit."

Keane, who won seven Premier League titles as a player with Man United, managed Sunderland between 2006 and 2008 and also had a two-year spell with Ipswich Town in 2009.