Sunderland defender John O'Shea says he'd swap all the medals he won with Manchester United to play in a major tournament for the Republic of Ireland.

O'Shea, who returned ahead of schedule from a hamstring strain to play in last week's second leg at the Aviva Stadium, is finally dreaming of playing on the biggest international stage in Poland and Ukraine next summer.

He said: "It is a huge gap on my c.v. and I would have given back a lot of medals to go to major tournament with Ireland.

"You know what a fantastic atmosphere the fans bring over and what the team can bring to the tournament. Not just the excitement of the fans and the colour.

"The celebrations last week were well deserved. It is a fantastic achievement to qualify for the finals but thankfully it was quite an easy night for us on the pitch in the second leg. The hard work was done in Estonia.

"We were really able to enjoy the night. A win would have been nice in front of the Ireland fans but they were looking forward to the final whistle as much as we were so we could start the party and celebrate the moment and enjoy it.

"Now we can look forward to the summer. For once we won't be watching it on the telly. And we want to make an impact and fingers crossed we can do that again with the manager's guile.

"After the disappointment of losing to France, we are really looking forward to it. We have had to wait a long time.

"We picked ourselves up after that play-off, dusted ourselves down and have bounced back with mainly the same group. There have been a few additions here and there but we have qualified from a tricky group. There is a lot to look forward to. You can't underestimate Mr Trapattoni's achievement, two defeats in 26 games, at international level. That is brilliant.

"He has brought a new level of detail and approach of how he wants the team to play. It is all well and good. Sometimes it might not be so pleasing on the eye but it has brought us positive results."