Sunderland captain John O'Shea has pleaded for common sense to prevail as the fallout from Wes Brown's sending-off at Stoke City last weekend continues.

Brown was shown a straight red card following a sliding challenge on Charlie Adam just before the break, despite appearing to cleanly win the ball and make minimal contact with the opponent.

O'Shea believes that Adam's reaction to the tackle helped persuade referee Kevin Friend that Brown should be dismissed, pleading for the decision to be overturned.

He told Sky Sports News: "When you see the replays of Wes's tackle, it's frustrating, but obviously it's one of those things. It's so frustrating.

"We were a goal down at that stage but I thought we were in clear control of the game and it gave Stoke a massive, massive lift. The ref's not had the best of days, has he? Hopefully the red card will get overturned.

"The reaction from Charlie could have been a bit better. I think the reaction of their bench is what the ref has gone on, to be honest. You can imagine how gutted he is. He's worked so hard to get back. Fingers crossed it will be overturned and he'll be okay for next week."

The Black Cats slipped to a 2-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, leaving themselves rockbottom of the Premier League table.