Sunderland seek ruthless streak

Sunderland defender John O’Shea has called on his side ‘to finish teams off’ ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Blackburn.

Sebastian Larsson’s missed penalty away to Wolves last weekend proved to be crucial, as the Black Cats surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 thanks to a Steven Fletcher brace.

The former Manchester United player insists the north-east side need to find a ruthless streak in front of goal if they are to take strides forward under new boss Martin O’Neill.

“We need a more resilient streak in us; we need to finish teams off if we go a goal up,” he told the club’s official website.

“It’s such a fine line between winning and losing in this game but we can’t keep talking about that.”

“It’s a case of us continuing to do the right things – preparing properly in the build-up to the game, examining the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“Hopefully with the buzz surrounding the new manager coming in the place will be rocking on Sunday and we can go home with three points.”

Following Yakubu’s four-goal haul for Rovers against Swansea, O’Shea is aware of the threat posed by the Nigerian, but remains confident his side have enough to see off Steve Kean’s men.

“Yakubu’s confidence will be sky high at the moment, we’ll have to keep an eye on him,” O’Shea said.

“But we know that if we play to our standards at home we are more than capable of beating Blackburn.”