O’Shea: One dogfight enough

Sunderland skipper John O’Shea is determined not to find himself involved in a relegation battle next season.

The 33-year-old central defender led the Black Cats to safety last season as they staged an unlikely fightback to drag themselves out of deep trouble and preserve their place in the Barclays Premier League.

A serial winner during his time at Manchester United – he has five league titles to his name – Republic of Ireland international O’Shea admits clinching survival felt almost as good at earning some of the honours he has claimed.

However, no sooner had safety been achieved than he was already turning his attention to preventing the need for a repeat.

O’Shea said: “You don’t get any medals from climbing away from the foot of the table, but I was asked how the feeling we have at the moment compares with collecting a winners’ medal.

“Undoubtedly the elation we are all experiencing has got to be up there.

“The achievement is all the more satisfying because of the teams we have had to face in recent weeks and the pressure we were under when we were written off.

“We have stood up to it and, after last season, we are already thinking about making sure that next year, we start off much better so we don’t find ourselves in the same situation again.”

O’Shea paid tribute to manager Gus Poyet and his staff.

He said: “It’s to the credit of the head coach and his staff that they have stuck to their guns in terms of how they wanted us to play. They have got their ideas across about how they want to see us create chances, and so credit is due to them as well as to the players who have worked hard to put these ideas into practice.”