Captain John O'Shea has urged his Sunderland teammates to battle hard for points over the Christmas period for the club's supporters.

On paper the Black Cats have tough matches against champions Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light over the coming days.

However, O'Shea believes that the squad should use the support that they are given to help drive them on to collect positive results.

"It's a busy period but one the lads are looking forward to," O'Shea told the club's official website. "We know how hard the fans work and all the money they spend getting to the games. We'll be doing all we can to get three points for them as well as ourselves."

Sunderland are currently 15th in the Premier League table.