The significant Alex Neil call which has helped Sunderland and Tony Mowbray this season

It meant then manager Alex Neil would have to make a change on the right of his back three against QPR at the Stadium of Light. Bailey Wright, or even Aji Alese, seemed like the most natural fit, yet it was Luke O’Nien who was brought on instead.

Of course this wasn’t a completely new role for O’Nien, who played around half a season at centre-back under Lee Johnson in League One.

Still, after returning from a shoulder injury earlier in the year, the 28-year-old had predominantly played as a central midfielder under Neil, starting in the middle of the park for all three play-off fixtures in May.

Since the QPR match, though, O’Nien has featured as a centre-half for 17 of Sunderland’s 21 league games.

The only exceptions came when he was moved to right-back for three matches to cover for the injured Lynden Gooch, while he also missed last month’s trip to Birmingham after receiving five yellow cards.

Yet on the whole O’Nien has been a crucial player in the heart of Sunderland’s backline, operating in a back four and a back three.

We saw more evidence of that in Sunderland’s 2-1 win over Blackburn on Boxing Day.

According to Wyscout, O’Nien won four of his five defensive duels and made five interceptions which stopped opposition attacks.

In fact, according to fbref.com, the 28-year-old is ranked third in the Championship for interceptions made (46) and second for shots blocked (26) this campaign.

O’Nien’s ability in possession has also helped Sunderland, as he completed 12 of his 16 forward passes against Blackburn and four of six into the final third.

It should also be remembered that this was the first time O’Nien and Ballard had started a competitive match together, with Danny Batth sidelined due to a calf injury.

Still, O’Nien and Ballard dealt well with the physical threat of forward Sam Gallagher, while Rovers’ top scorer Ben Brereton-Diaz was also kept on the fringes.

Mowbray has recently said he sees O’Nien as a centre-half and doesn’t envisage him moving back into midfield.

Based on the player’s performances this season, few would argue with that decision.