Luke O'Nien likened to Sunderland legend by former midfield star

Alex Rae has made the same observation as many of the rest of us with regard Luke O'Nien.

Alex Rae believes Sunderland have finally found another Kevin Ball after likening Luke O’Nien to his former skipper.

Ball is a legend on Wearside after giving the club years of ferociously committed service both on and off the pitch. 

He was also a much more technically gifted footballer than he generally got credit for and highly versatile given he played in both defence and midfield for the club.

The similarities with O’Nien, therefore, are certainly striking and Rae, who is currently the assistant manager at Reading, has taken note.

"Luke has been at the club for a number of years now and has managed to accumulate excellent numbers,” Rae told Grosvenor Sport.

“He's not far off a couple of hundred games for the club (note: O’Nien has actually already surpassed that number of appearances) and that's the bracket where fans will love him.

"I like a lot of what Luke O'Nien brings to the table. He's dogged, resilient and he reminds me of my old skipper Kevin Ball in a lot of ways.

"He's very competitive, gives it his all and he can play a bit too so when you look at that, he's a player you'd want to build others around because he's a model of consistency."

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