David Moyes admits Sunderland will have to manage John O’Shea carefully

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O’Shea featured in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw against West Brom at the weekend.

Sunderland manager David Moyes has said that captain John O’Shea is important to the side, while suggesting they will not be able to play him in every game, the Sunderland Echo reports.

There was a noticeable improvement in Sunderland’s defensive display during the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the weekend following successive games when the Black Cats made errors at the back, leading to costly goals being conceded, notably in the previous weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace where they surrendered a 2-0 lead.

Moyes is quoted in the Sunderland Echo, saying: “I just think where we are at at the moment we need his feeling of calmness, understanding of the position.

“John has been a really good player during his career and he did a good job for us and he’ll continue to do a good job for us because we’ll need him.

“But we also need to know that he’s 34-years-old now and not 24, so we have to just decide when we can introduce people who we think might be the future as we go along.”

Moyes was mistaken in his age about O’Shea, who is 35, but his point is still valid. There was certainly more assurance about Sunderland’s defending against the Baggies, even though they failed to register their first clean sheet in the Premier League this season.

But the worry is that they are relying on someone who is in the latter stages of their career in most games while the club are in such a perilous situation in the table at this early stage of the campaign, as they sit bottom having taken just two points so far this season.

The reality is that a lot of work needs to be done on the Sunderland back line in training and their other defenders have to step up. Lamine Kone and Papy Djilobodji have looked very shaky when they have played together and have been too easy for the opposition to break down.

Having experienced players around the squad like O’Shea is essential in many senses, but Sunderland do not want to get themselves to a stage where they are practically reliant on him.