John O'Shea is hopeful that he can mark his 100th cap for the Republic of Ireland by netting the winner in next week's Euro 2016 qualifier away to Germany.

Currently on 98 appearances, the Sunderland defender is expected to move one game short of the century when minnows Gibraltar visit Dublin on Saturday evening.

"It will be very special for me if it does happen but it will be one of those things I'll try not to think about too much during the games," he told reporters.

"My 100th cap could come against the world champions Germany, so that's a nice game for it to happen.

"To be honest I should have more goals for Ireland than I have, which is only a couple. My record could easily be improved and scoring the winner against Germany? Now that would be great."

O'Shea could become the sixth Irishman to earn centurion status, following the likes of Robbie Keane (135), Shay Given (126), Kevin Kilbane (110), Steve Staunton (102) and Damien Duff (100) into the record books.

Tuesday's clash away to the world champions is scheduled to kick off at 7.45pm.