"The confidence and the belief has come back to the team.
Shay's 'Save Of The Decade'!
"The confidence and the belief has come back to the team.
"It's going to be a tough game, they have signed a lot of players over the summer and they probably have a stronger squad than us at the minute, but it's going to be close again, they always are.
"They will probably be favourites this weekend which makes a change. I don't think that has been the case before when I've been here so that is going to make it a different sort of game for them and us.
"They haven't beaten us there since 1980 and will be desperate to do so this year, but we don't want to be the team that is the first to lose at the Stadium of Light.
"It's a great game of football to play in. I'm really excited about it. I think we were all looking forward to it, even when we were playing for Ireland. I missed both games because of injury last season so I'm really looking forward to this one.
"My favourite memory of playing Sunderland at the Stadium of Light from a personal point of view was the save I made to keep out Kevin Phillips (in 2000).
"I don't like to blow my own trumpet but I'll get it out for once.
"I think it was voted one of the saves of the decade. It helped keep a clean sheet and we won the game 1-0 so I was delighted with that.
"If you're going to make a save like that, this is the game to do it in. We've got some great memories of going there through the years and I think we've won most of them.
"It's fantastic to be involved. Middlesbrough is a close game, but it's nothing like the Sunderland games. These are the big games that the big players stand up and be counted in.
"It's a special game and it's up there with any other derby in the world.
"When I was at Sunderland it was just a learning time for me. I was still a Blackburn player, I was young and went there for experience, that was it. It was a good learning curve for me."