Robbie Savage has insisted that Sunderland should have given Paolo Di Canio more time to turn the club's fortunes around before swinging the axe.

The football pundit believes that the Italian deserves credit for helping the club avoid relegation last season and should not have been sacked so early into the new campaign.

"I think Sunderland should have least give Di Canio until Newcastle at home to see if he could turn it around," he told BBC Sports.

"It was wearing thin though apologies to fans after games, it seemed to be all about him and not the team, bit harsh though. Lots of players in, one point in five games is not good enough this season at this stage but kept them up last year when they seemed down."

Kevin Ball has been named as the 45-year-old's temporary successor and will take charge of Tuesday's Capital One Cup clash with Peterborough United.