Sunderland new-boy John O'Shea says he will only get 'fitter and stronger' after making his Black Cats debut against Swansea.
Defender targeting first win with Sunderland
Sunderland new-boy John O'Shea says he will only get 'fitter and stronger' after making his Black Cats debut against Swansea at the weekend.
O'Shea, who arrived at the Stadium of Light from Manchester United earlier this summer, played the full 90 minutes of Saturday's goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium after missing Sunderland's opening two Premier League games with a hamstring injury picked up in pre-season.
The 30-year-old, currently on international duty with Republic of Ireland, is looking forward to pushing on with his new club when the domestic campaign resumes.
"I'm happy to have got my first 90 minutes for Sunderland under my belt, but we're a little disappointed not to have come away with the three points," he told Sunderland's
official website.
"The chances we created were good ones and I think we deserved to win, but it wasn't to be.
Difficult
"It's difficult to come into a team which has already played a few games because I'm not fully up to speed having missed some of pre-season.
"But I've worked hard to get to this stage and I'll only get fitter and stronger now.
"Hopefully I'll get another couple of games under my belt on international duty and come back better for it."
O'Shea was on the edge of a dream debut when he almost scored in just the second minute at Swansea from a Sebastian Larsson free-kick, but the Irishman hit the crossbar with his headed effort.
"I caught it a bit too cleanly, though I thought it was in," he added. "I told Seb to beat the first man and I'd get across, and it worked.
"I got the perfect connection on it - on another day it would have dropped in but it wasn't to be."
