O’Shea calling on Sunderland to keep up the fight

Captain John O’Shea is calling on his Sunderland side to repeat the efforts of their invaluable draw with Tottenham Hotspur in their bid to remain in the Premier League.

Spurs had been in free-flowing form prior to their trip to the Stadium of Light, scoring at least twice in their previous seven league games prior to the North East stalemate.

Yet, more importantly for the Black Cats came a second point in six top-flight matches following another impressive draw against Liverpool, that began 2017.

(Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)

But with five points separating David Moyes’ side from safety and just 15 games remaining, defender O’Shea knows they can’t pat themselves on the back just yet ahead of the proverbial six-pointer away at Crystal Palace, on Saturday.

“That [effort against Tottenham] is going to be the minimum needed going forward,” he said.

“We’ll need that resilience and togetherness with the game we have coming up, and hopefully we can create more chances.

“Palace had a good win on Tuesday night and that will have given them a bit of confidence, but we had a good result as well against Spurs.

“We know it’ll be a tough challenge but it’s one we’re up for, and we’re looking forward to it.”