'He's a defender' - Luke O'Nien fails to prompt rethink despite starring midfield role

Looks like Luke O'Nien in the Sunderland midfield is only going to be a temporary thing.

Michael Graham | Feb 17, 2023

'He's a defender' - Luke O'Nien fails to prompt rethink despite starring midfield role /

Luke O’Nien will continue to be seen primarily as a defender at Sunderland, despite his impressive return to the midfield of late.

O’Nien was a regular in defence before being sent off against Swansea a month ago. Since serving the resulting three-match ban, though, he has been used in a midfield role.

That continued at Loftus Road where he started a game for the first time since his suspension, and he put in a brilliant performance which included the first goal.

However, despite that, and the fact he was brought to Sunderland as a midfielder, boss Tony Mowbray is still viewing the 28-year-old as primarily a defender.

"In my mind, he's a defender," Mowbray said when asked if O’Nien’s midfield performance had made him reassess his plans for him.

"But, as I've said constantly, he's such a great guy, he's so versatile, he has huge confidence in what he can do - he's telling me now that he can play centre-forward and cause havoc and get 15 goals a season!

“So I've got no fear of putting him in midfield because I know what he gives you, I know what he brings.

“Yet in my mind he is a defender, left side or right side, I'm genuinely not sure whether he is left-footed or right-footed! I know he's right-footed, really, but watching after training working on his left foot, it's unbelievable what he can do with it.

"He's just a talent that we are delighted to have as part of our squad, and a brilliant guy who keeps the environment and the positivity going every day. Let's see, ultimately, where he finds himself as the season unfolds."

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Published Feb 17, 2023

MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk