Sunderland’s players are relishing Wednesday’s trip to Middlesbrough, according to John O’Shea.
Just three points separate the sides heading into the highly-anticipated encounter, with victory enough to lift the Black Cats level with Boro heading into the final stage of the season.
On Saturday Steve Agnew’s side were brushed aside by AFC Bournemouth as Gaston Ramirez was sent off, with Sunderland forced to bide their time due to a rescheduled fixture against Emirates FA Cup finalists Arsenal.
And speaking to safc.com, O’Shea insisted the Black Cats will be raring to go at the Riverside Stadium.
“It’s away from home and it’ll be a real derby atmosphere, but they’re the games you want to be a part of.
“Just like us they’ll be targeting three points – we’re looking forward to it.”
He added: “We know we’re at the stage now where wins are key and that has to be our total focus ahead of the game.
“It’ll be a difficult game but we know we have to go there and win – it’s as simple as that if we want to stay in the Premier League.”