AN UPSET Niall Quinn last night insisted he had not misled supporters following claims from Birmingham City's co-owner David Sullivan that Sunderland did not reject the opportunity to broadcast the top-of-the-table clash with Derby live.

The fixture was scheduled for next Monday with the game screened live on Sky.

However, due to Derby's progress in the FA Cup, it was switched back to its original 3pm kick-off on Saturday afternoon.

Sunderland maintain they had the option of playing the game in front of the cameras at 5.15 on Saturday but opted for the more traditional time in the hope of attracting a bigger crowd rather than receiving the TV cash.

But Sullivan, who came under fire from his own club's supporters for a poorly-attended 11.30am kick-off at St Andrew's a couple of Sundays ago, insisted it wasn't true Sunderland turned down the TV opportunity, although he may not have had all the facts.

He went on to claim, in a question and answer session on Birmingham's official website which was removed yesterday, the Sunderland-Derby match was 'deselected by Sky' and an alternative game was chosen.

But Sunderland chairman Quinn, desperate to refute any suggestion he wrongly informed the fans, has reiterated how Sunderland refused the chance to be screened live.

"David Sullivan has misunderstood the facts and it is disappointing that our club is now being publicly challenged on this issue," said Quinn last night.

"As we said at the time, The Football League insisted that the fixture be moved to accommodate any potential FA Cup replay that Derby County could be involved in - the game was therefore switched from Monday to Saturday. We were then given the option of retaining a live television fixture with a 5.15pm kick-off."

As well as issuing a statement revealing as much, Quinn also described last night that opting to refuse the early evening start was a collective decision.

But it was reached with the fans in mind in the hope of getting the biggest crowd of the season for one of Sunderland's most important games.

"Myself, Peter Walker and Roy Keane discussed this at length and we took the option to forgo the televised fixture in favour of a traditional 3pm kick-off, hoping this would help the team and meet with the approval of our supporters," said Quinn.

"I'm very upset the integrity of our club has been questioned over a misunderstanding between the chairman of another club and the Football League. The bottom line is we turned down a significant amount of money to benefit our team and our fans."

Sunderland were happy to play on Monday but it had to be switched in case Derby, who have now been knocked out, had been forced into a replay with Plymouth in the fifth round.

Sunderland's supporters are continuing to back the decision.

Left-winger Tobias Hysen is expected to retain his place against the Rams tomorrow. The Swedish international has become a regular in the last six weeks and has shown why Quinn paid £1.7m for him in August.

And Keane, the Sunderland boss, has described how a heart-to-heart before Christmas convinced him there was plenty more to come from the Scandinavian.

"I spoke to Toby just before Christmas because a club made an offer for him," said Keane, referring to an offer believed to have been from Swedish club Gothenburg.

"We had a chat. I told him I wanted him to stay and he said he didn't want to leave. It was straight-forward. When I first came here, I left him out for the first few games but he just kept his head down and worked really hard.

"You have to remember he had a busy time. He had a full season before he came here and he had had no rest. When a player comes to England, you always have to give him a few months to get into the swing of things."

Keane will assess the fitness of full-back Danny Simpson today before deciding on his final selection. Simpson picked up a slight strain at Birmingham.

Keane said: "We hope it's nothing too serious."