O´Neill lauds ´magnificent´ McClean

Manager Martin O’Neill singled out the ‘magnificent’ James McClean after the winger spearheaded Sunderland’s 3-1 win over QPR.

O’Neill hailed the 22-year-old after he celebrated signing a new three-year contract by scoring what proved to be the decisive goal of the contest having played a key role in Nicklas Bendtner and Stephane Sessegnon’s strikes.

“I am very pleased with the performance and some of the goals we scored were excellent,” O’Neill told reporters.

“I thought James was magnificent for us. He was a constant threat to them throughout the afternoon and if anything he is just getting more confident about his game.

“I just thought he was really excellent. He made the first goal, although Nicklas Bendtner still had plenty to do when it came into the box; he helped make the third goal and obviously contributed a goal himself.

“Overall he was brilliant. He has great enthusiasm and great determination and thirdly he has got some ability and he is trying to improve. He is loving it.

“He stepped in to play and he said somewhere that, amazingly, he is not in awe of the whole thing. He didn’t mean to be disrespectful to anyone at all but I just think that has probably helped him.”

O’Neill said John O’Shea would miss Tuesday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against Everton with an unspecified injury but is certain his team will go into the contest with confidence high.

“We are on 40 points on the board and if you had given me that in December I would have taken your arms off for it before the end of the season never mind anything else.”

Mark Hughes criticised striker Djibril Cisse for the ‘crazy’ challenge that saw him sent off as QPR slipped back into the relegation zone.

Cisse was dismissed for the second time in four appearances after an ugly tackle on Sunderland substitute Fraizer Campbell with QPR trailing 1-0.

They are now one point from safety, with Sunderland old boy Cisse facing a four-match ban.

“It was a crazy challenge by Djibril,” said Hughes. “And he knows it.”

Former Liverpool striker Cisse, who only joined QPR at the end of January, was also sent off on his home debut in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves on February 4.

He is now set to miss the London derby with Arsenal at Loftus Road on March 31, as well as the trip to title-chasing Manchester United on April 8.

The 30-year-old is also likely to be sidelined for the home game with Swansea on 11 April and the trip to West Bromwich Albion three days later.

Cisse has now netted in three of his five games for Sunderland – and been sent off in the other two.

“That’s going to hurt us,” said Hughes, “because when we have been able to keep him on the pitch he has been excellent for us.

“The sending off obviously compromised us but, in fairness, even if he had still stayed on the pitch, I don’t think we would have won because we didn’t start in the right manner and didn’t do the right things on enough occasions.”