John O’Shea says he is happy to play in midfield for Sunderland amid an injury crisis, but the defender doesn’t expect the change in position to be permanent.
Sunderland boss David Moyes is without the services of Seb Larsson (knee), Jan Kirchhoff (hamstring) and Lee Cattermole (hernia) due to injury and O’Shea played alongside Jack Rodwell in the defeat at Manchester City in the opening round of Premier League fixtures.
The former Manchester United man is set to fill in again when Middlesbrough visit on Sunday for the Wear-Tees derby, and O’Shea says he is happy to play wherever he is needed.
“At different stages at Man United, there were spells when I played in the holding role in the Champions League – I’ve played maybe 20-25 games there,” he told the Sunderland Echo. “I am used to it, but I haven’t played there for a few years – I have more been in central defence.
“But it needed to be done and it’s always been the case that I know the manager trusts me to fill in if needed. I can’t see it being a permanent fixture, though!”
Sunderland struggled against the drop for much of last season but O’Shea feels they can enjoy a more successful campaign this year.
The 35-year-old says there are plenty of positives to take from the match at the Etihad Stadium last weekend despite the fact the Black Cats failed to take anything from the game.
He added: “We were able to frustrate a team with all the quality that they have, and ultimately cause them some problems too.
If we show that attitude and application, and be a bit better on the ball and clever attacking-wise, we will cause teams a lot of problems because we had some chances.”
Sunderland are 2.50 to see off Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light on Sunday. A win for the visitors is 3.00 and a draw is 3.10.
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