Jack Ross reacts to another stellar showing from Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien and explains why he is no makeshift full back

‘Luke O’Nien, Luke O’Nien, Luke O’Nien....rocking all over League One’.

Not just because it is one of the catchier Sunderland songs in recent times, either.

O’Nien had again been superb, helping to secure a vital three points with a last-ditch clearance in stoppage time.

There had been another vital interception with the Black Cats 1-0 down in the first half and throughout he offered an attacking outlet.

A lack of service for Will Grigg during a tricky week in awful conditions had led some to wonder whether he should be moved back upfield, but this was a performance that underlined why Jack Ross has persisted with him at right-back.

“Luke’s been consistently very good,” Ross said.

“I did have a little chuckle earlier in the week when I was being asked about him playing in the middle of the pitch. He can play there but his consistency of perfromance has been at his best playing full-back, nobody can deny that. “That’s where he’s made his name, if you like.

“He’s also been part of a defence in recent weeks which has had four clean sheets out of six [correct].

“His understanding of the role’s getting better but above all his willingness to put his body on the line in all areas of the pitch is evident all the time.”

Ross, though, had admitted on Thursday that the thought of moving O’Nien had occured to him during the second half at Oakwell.

The 24-year-old is simply a player he trusts to make the most of any role he is given.

For now that is on the right side of defence and there is little prospect of that changing anytime soon.

“Because of his approach to the game and his appetite for the game I’ve commented internally that I could probably put him anywhere on the pitch and he’d do a job because he’d make sure he knew as much as he can about playing that position and try and keep getting better at it, “Ross said.

“Also the truth is I break down players’ attributes quite often and look at what you need to play in a certain position and he’s got a lot. That’s why we played him there in the first place.

“Yeah, it was forced on us a little bit by injuries but equally we felt he would be good at it. He’s blossomed, he really has.

“His contributions at both ends of the pitch have been consistent,” Ross added.

“If you look at Luke’s career, because he’s had to work incredibly hard to keep progressing through it – even at Wycombe he was used in different roles and different styles and Wycombe play a very different way to us – and that shows he’s tactically adaptable It took him a little while to settle here because it’s very different to what he was used to at Wycombe.

“I never pigeon-holed him in any way, but the truth is his performances over 17 appearances at right-back means he plays there on merit. At the moment it’s his best position.

The win over Walsall brought to an end a bruising week for the Black Cats.

They had to battle Wycombe’s physical approach last week before taking on the elements in the following two games.

Ross knew that his side were in need of a break and so this was all about the result.

He was visibly delighted to secure it.

“I just think with this break coming up we understood the importance of Saturday,” he said.

“More than anything else, we just looked at the fact we didn’t have a league game for a couple of weeks.

“Also it’s been a tough couple of weeks for the players with the games we’ve had and the travelling we’ve done. A lot of them were running a little bit on empty. I think that was the biggest driver for us – we knew we had to find a way to win the game and then we could have a breather.

“Psychologically I think it will also help us enjoy the build-up to the final as well.