Sunderland captain John O’Shea has targeted at least five wins from the club’s remaining 12 matches to ensure survival in the English Premier League.
The Black Cats defender feels the club’s recent performances have merited a healthier points return but is more than experienced enough to know that only results matter between now and the end of the season.
O’Shea is with his Sunderland team-mates in Dubai as part of Sam Allardyce’s traditional warm weather training trip to the UAE.
“We have 12 games left, we need five wins; five, six wins more than likely. We know what it’ll take (to stay up),” the Republic of Ireland star said after their first training session at Dubai Sports City.
“The main thing is if we can get more clean sheets with the attacking talent we have, that’s going to be key for us in the remaining games. Ultimately now it’s down to results. Performance-wise it’s great if we perform well, we had a fantastic performance against Manchester City, but we got zero points.
#SAFC striker #Defoe did not train with rest of group today following his recent injury. No competitive action. pic.twitter.com/pmoqYu3N49
— Stuart Appleby (@Stuart_Appleby) February 18, 2016
“We weren’t so good against Liverpool and we got one point and then we played very well at home to Manchester United and got all three. Home form as well is going to be key.”
The 34-year-old, who spent 12 seasons with Manchester United, believes the team have improved under Big Sam and also admits Jermain Defoe’s goalscoring pedigree will be vital to carry them out of the relegation zone.
