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And that's that. Sunderland captain John O'Shea ended his Total Sport interview by saying: "I've seen the reaction from everybody in training, everyone is looking forward to the (Norwich) game."

He added: "Thanks for looking after us tonight, hopefully I've answered as much as I could, and please the fans as much as possible. Keep supporting us, we're going to give everything we can to have a positive season."

If you missed any of it, you can catch up with the programme here on the iPlayer.

Local Live will be back from 08:00 on Friday with all the news, sport weather and travel for the North East. We hope you can join us then.

John O'Shea was asked how, as a club, the Black Cats can move forward?

He said: "The club wants to improve, and get bigger, that takes time, the club have been looking to change managers so we want to take the next step up.

"Between 14th and 8th, then that will probably lead to improved budgets and everything will improve. Then more players will be more attracted to the club.

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"We've had years in the Premier League. We've achieved that and that's been achieved with the fans."

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SAFC captain John O'Shea was asked: Can you hear the crowd when you're on the pitch?

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He said: "When you're at home, as well as away, they have a fantastic effect on the game.

"I don't know if they realise at times how crucial they can be, you need that to keep you going, when there's a pause in the game that's when you hear a lot more from the fans.

"Obviously you're concentrating for the majority of the game, but when it's quieter you hear some more of the banter."

John O'Shea was asked about his time under Paolo Di Canio, who was sacked after 13 games in charge of Sunderland.

He said: "Look, we're trying to look forward to a positive season.

"There's been a few different managers over the past few years and we're looking for consistency and if we can get that consistency we'll be scoring more goals and winning more games."

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John O'Shea was asked: Which player do you fear coming up against most?

He replied: "The Premier League, last year players like Diego Costa, you like to test yourself against these players, he'll take an elbow to the back to the head, he's well able to cope.

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"There's definitely players you enjoy testing yourself against, in the Premier League there's plenty of players where you think you'll have to be on form today.

"You look at Aguero, when he's fully fit, he's top, top draw."

The Sunderland captain was asked about the Black Cats' pace on the pitch.

John O'Shea said: "I'm sure the manager and everyone else is looking to improve on that. It's crucial.

"When you see Jeremain Lens, you'll see a lot more pace in the side."

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John O'Shea was asked about his best and worst Sunderland moments.

His best moment:

"Leading Sunderland out at Wembley was amazing, but the record I have in derby games too, it's a toss of the coin."

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And his worst?

"Every defeat, me personally you analyse everything, players don't need a rating in the paper to know if they played well."

John O'Shea was asked how important travelling fans were to away games.

He said: "I used to think of the night when we were in Old Trafford [Sunderland won on penalties].

"That night in particular, there were a few more Sunderland fans than normal because it was a cup game. I remember them singing... The noise was constant and it's truly appreciated.

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"I had amazing memories at Manchester but I want to create new memories for Sunderland and hopefully there's more to come."

Asked about Sunderland's struggles in previous season, John O'Shea said: "The Premier League is a very, very competitive league, you see the players teams are signing, the lad that Stoke have signed (Xherdan Shaqiri), it's so competitive.

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"The last few seasons have been tough, but it's the Premier League, and we've managed so far to stay in it. We want to improve on last season."

Sunderland have won five North East derbies in a row and John O'Shea says being involved in them is right up there with Manchester derbies he's been part of.

He said: "I don't think I've ever lost a derby, the fans will tell me if I'm wrong.

"It's right up there [with Manchester derbies] you see the referees, they want to be part of the games and be in control.

"We've been on a fantastic run. I'd love to be much higher in the table and losing to Newcastle. I definitely want to have a much more enjoyable season, but the fans want to win the derbies too."

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On Fabio Borini's potential return to the Stadium of Light, John O'Shea said: "There's probably a few Sunderland fans who wouldn't want him back, but if he hit the ground running that would all be forgotten. That's the nature of football these days."

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A Sunderland fan asked if captain John O'Shea would like to be a manager one day.

He said: "Hopefully I'd like to give it ago. You think about the type of things in terms of where you start at management level, do you start being a number two? Or be a coach?

"I have two young kids now... if I do go into it, it'll be something I go into whole heartedly. I'll be prepared for it if I want to go down that route."

He added he nearly has his Uefa A Licence.

On the question of keeping up consistent performances, John O'Shea told BBC Newcastle: "Consistency is what the fans want to see and that's what we're striving to get.

"The manager made a couple of additions to the squad, the manager has picked the team for the first league game, and we hope that consistency will come from the performances."

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The Sunderland captain responded to transfer rumours about the possibility of Fabio Borini making a reappearance on Wearside.

John O'Shea said: "He got on fantastically at the club but let's wait and see.

"He went back to Liverpool, he wanted to make an impact and that's the type of positive lad he is."

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You can watch Sunderland's captain John O'Shea answer your questions live on Periscope. Watch the live feed here., external

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One caller asks: Why do Sunderland have difficulty attracting quality footballers?

John O'Shea says: "Well I see we signed Jeremain Lens and he came to the club, he's a quality player.

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"I know you might see stories in the papers about a player, but it might not have been an option, perhaps Sunderland were never an option

"Sunderland can attract quality players, it might not look like that from the outside but they can."

Sunderland's John O'Shea said new signing Younes Kaboul will "go from strength to strength".

He said: "He's building up his fitness from coming in as he hasn't played that much in the past couple of months. He's a fantastic addition."

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More from John O'Shea on the Leicester defeat.

He tells Simon Pryde: "When you see Fletch going up for headers like that you think he'll get them, the more we can do that the more joy we're going to get this season.

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"I've always stressed how important the fans are, the constant singing and trying to get the lads going, when we went 3-1 I thought we had our best spell and it looked like Leicester were a bit rattled, but they got the fourth and that was it.

"As always, the atmosphere at home, we'll try and make sure there's something to shout about."

And here is John O'Shea in the BBC Newcastle studio answering your questions.

Peter was the first caller and bemoaned Sunderland's "schoolboy defending" at Leicester.

John O'Shea said: "The boys were hugely disappointed, we know we can go much better and we'll be looking to improve on that.

"The reaction in training has been very positive, we wanted to start the season well but hopefully we can make up for that against Norwich."

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