John O’Shea remained upbeat in the wake of Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, insisting there are plenty of positives to take forward.
The Reds controlled large spells of the game on Merseyside but the Black Cats did create chances, with Victor Anichebe slotting in Duncan Watmore moments before Liverpool took the lead.
Divock Origi was the man to shatter the deadlock with his curling finish breaking Sunderland’s resilience in the final stages of the game.
And although James Milner’s stoppage-time penalty added to the score, O’Shea believes Sunderland can enter a new week with spirits high.
“We have the ability to score goals and get clean sheets,” said the skipper. “Combine those two things and we are very close.
“On another day we could have been coming away from Anfield with a clean sheet and a point, so it is very positive from that point of view.”
He continued: “The manager had spoken beforehand saying we will have to defend in numbers at times, but we are also going to cause them problems on the counter-attack.
“We know Jermain can catch defences out and Duncan had that chance too, those are the chances you want away from home.
“The team and the players have grown and the players that have arrived in the summer have now settled in; Victor [Anichebe], Didier [Ndong] and Jason [Denayer].
“You see them all grow. Duncan [Watmore], Lynden Gooch and Jordan [Pickford] are all coming on.
“There are plenty of positives.”
