SILVESTRE WANTS CENTRE BACK SPOT

“I knew last season the manager was thinking of me more as a
centre-half. Hopefully I will do as well as I did last
season because while switching positions is not a particular
problem for me personally, I need to be playing in one if I
am going to keep my place in the national team. We are short
of defenders anyway at the moment, so we all have to be
pretty careful. The Confederations Cup was difficult because
we were supposed to be right in the middle of our time off.
It's good to be back but I needed the 90 minutes on
Wednesday. We need to be ready for Sunday and even more
importantly, for the league game against Bolton the
following week.”

Meanwhile John O’Shea will be happy to get into the team,
regardless of where he plays:

"Getting in the team is the most important thing for me just
now. Where I play seems to bother other people more than me.
Anyway across the back four is fine by me. I don't find it a
problem.

"They say the second season is the hardest, but, if selected,
hopefully I can continue to show what I have done last
season and even improve. I did surprise myself a little bit
last season, but I was always hoping to get that chance, not
just over one or two games, but 10 or 12.

"Life has changed a little bit and I feel more part of the
squad than I did this time last year. But everybody has been
really nice to me, especially back home in Ireland. I doubt
it will last forever, but hopefully it will keep going for a
long time.''