Luke O’Nien was such a key figure in the Sunderland side way before they were beaten at Bramall Lane and he insisted that the side was not poor as the occasion deems it to be, but rather it was the side’s unluckiness that contributed to the blaster of a mistake that he coned in the match.
Sunderland in a tough match against a high flying Sheffield United which saw the black cats show a good account of themselves but a death knell was sounded by a missed penalty by Patrick Roberts. The tide turned when Chris Mepham was sent off for a foul on Tyrese Campbell to reduce Sunderland’s chances to try and fight a man down.
However, the match stayed evenly balanced until Souttar was sent off to level the teams again. But Tom Davies introduced from the bench ensured that Sunderland’s good run of games without tasting a defeat came to an early burial as they remain winless for the sixth consecutive game. O’Nien accepted the primary error that led to Mepham’s dismissal and affirmed his readiness to increase his efforts to learn form such mistakes.
Looking at the recent performances of the team, O’Nien noted the fail to convert the playing advantage into wins. “We have been performing as to how a team should perform but have not been rewarded with the outcomes that we deserved,” he pointed. While admitting the fact that organization has anyway a long way to traverse to regain that credibility they also highlighted that it has to be learnt that all these mistakes are to be done as team and all have to learn collectively to going up the ladder in future.
Moving to the future, O’Nien underlined the team determination and desire to overcome the next string of games and turn the narrow defeats into successes. “Our players need to provide a greater effort, coach more effectively, and improve the team to become a great team,” he confidently said. Sunderland’s next match is next Saturday against a midtable Stoke City side but after a disappointing away tie, player’s will be hoping to make amends and demonstrate character back at home in the Stadium of Light.