Irishman John O'Shea is closing in on the end of his Sunderland contract, but manager Chris Coleman feels he'll be playing football next season, even if that isn't for Sunderland.

Reports in Ireland suggested that the former Manchester United man might be about to hang up his boots, but Coleman expects him to keep on playing.

"I haven’t had a conversation with him," Coleman told the Sunderland Echo.

"I heard something about reports of retirement but I don’t think he’s got any intentions at all of retiring at the end of the season. His contract is up here, that’s the case with five players, but there have been no discussions on that. John will play on I think, he’ll want to play somewhere for longer than this season."

O'Shea has almost 250 Sunderland outings to his name, having initially joined on a four-year deal in 2011. This season he's played 33 times as the Black Cats have battled fruitlessly against a slide towards League One.

The Verdict

John O'Shea has had a great career, but I suspect Sunderland will be having a huge clear out in the summer and he's a likely candidate to leave. I'm sure he'll play on further, 33 games in the Championship proves he's still got lots in his legs and it would be a shame to see that end.

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