O’Shea looks set for another game in a holding midfield role when Sunderland take on Middlesbrough this weekend.

Sunderland’s John O’Shea in action with Manchester City’s Fabian Delph

Sunderland experienced captain John O’Shea has said he is prepared to fill in wherever he needs to while the Black Cats are short on players.

David Moyes doesn’t have a lot of options in central midfield and although O’Shea has been playing at centre-back for much of his Sunderland career, he was asked to play further forward in order to help out in last weekend’s defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

O’Shea explained in the Sunderland Echo, that he isn’t a stranger to the position having played there on numerous occasions during his time at Manchester United, as well as in other areas of the field.

Sunderland’s John O’Shea

He said: “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.

“I am used to it, but I haven’t played there for a few years – I have more been in central defence.

“Hopefully we will get the bodies back as quickly as possibly, because we saw last season, when we had a healthy squad, the competition kept everyone on their toes and that was reflected in performances.”

Sunderland manager David Moyes

It looks as though he could be playing in a similar role at the weekend when Sunderland face Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light, but it’s clear the Irishman would like other players to return as soon as possible – partly so the role can be played by those more accustomed to the position.

Nevertheless, it shows a great degree of leadership from the Black Cats skipper. He has made it evident he would like to play the role that has become that more natural to him in recent years going forward.

Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe celebrates scoring their first goal

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