Luke O'Nien has played almost every position on the pitch for Sunderland in recent years, but Tony Mowbray plans to keep him at centre back for the remained of the season...
DESIRE
“Luke O’Nien is someone I’ve been pleasantly surprised with. He brings a real physicality and drive to play in the position where he has been playing for us. He brings the legs, athleticism and desire that helps the job get done."
PARTNERSHIP
“For me, if he’s playing at centre-half, then he gives you an athleticism around Danny Batth. Danny’s there as a British-style centre-half, to compete, win headers and be dominant, whereas Luke brings legs, athleticism and a real desire to be in and around whoever he’s playing alongside. I think there’s been a nice balance to the defence recently, with Aji (Alese) on the left-hand side with his speed and physicality too.”
COMMITMENT
“The main thing with Luke is the competitive edge that he brings. He wants to win at everything he does. If we’re doing relay sprints in training, in groups of four or five, then he’s desperate for his team to win. He gets very emotional about it, and he plays the same way. I can understand why different managers have played him everywhere because you get total honesty and total commitment from him, whatever position he’s asked to play.”
BALANCE
“We’re trying to keep that core unit going, even though it gets difficult when you get into three-game weeks. It gets harder for the more experienced players to repeat every three days, especially with someone like Corry (Evans) and the load we put on him. It becomes a bit difficult, and that’s why the likes of Dan Neil and Elliot Embleton have to grow up fast and take that responsibility of being a senior figure, so if Corry needs a break, we can rotate around. We know they can play there and do the job, it’s just a question of whether they’ve got that same stability that someone like Corry gives you, where he knows how we want him to play and where we want him to be.”
