John O'shea 'just about surviving' his first pre-season without Wes Brown in 17 years

John O’Shea admits he’s ‘just about surviving’ in his first ever pre-season campaign without Wes Brown as a team-mate.

The Sunderland defender has rejoined his team-mates to prepare for the English season following his involvement with Ireland at Euro 2016.

But there are a few familiar faces missing – namely manager Sam Allardyce and Brown.

While Allardyce has left the Stadium of Light to become the new England manager, Brown is out of contract and trying to earn a deal with English Championship side Blackburn. 

Blackburn Rovers boss still wants to give Wes Brown a chance in pre-seasonhttps://t.co/fHZyrJH0Qa pic.twitter.com/NTQMBHgbtG

— Blackburn Rovers (@blackburnrovers) July 27, 2016

 And that’s big for O’Shea, considering he’s spent every season of his 17-year career playing with Brown as a team-mate.

When the Irishman made his debut for Manchester United in 1999, Brown was part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad and stayed there until the pair both left for Sunderland in 2011.

This summer spelled the end of their time playing together when Brown was released by Allardyce.

But despite fears over O’Shea coping without his old pal, O’Shea insists he’s doing fine:

It is a shame to see a long football friendship like this end, but Blackburn isn’t that far away from Sunderland so the pair should still see plenty of each other during the coming season and beyond.