Sunderland boss drops a big hint on where he sees Luke O'Nien playing in the long term

It's a question that perhaps makes more sense to anyone who has watched Luke O'Nien's Sunderland career from the start, with all of its regular positional changes.

The latest, a return to centre half where he had briefly but most definitely impressed in the 2020/21 season alongside Dion Sanderson, has been an impressive success. He has adapted not just to the change of position but done so at a significantly higher level to the first time round.

But it was a move sparked by Daniel Ballard's foot injury early in the 2-2 draw with QPR. Ballard is now close to a return - raising that question of what it could mean for O'Nien. Mowbray's options in defence are now numerous, with Aji Alese thriving and Bailey Wright back from the World Cup.

Mowbray's response highlights that for now he sees O'Nien very much as one of those options, particularly considering he has openly talked of using a 3-5-2 at some stage in games when Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart are both fit.

"I don't see him being moved into midfield," Mowbray said.

"The first thing I'd say is that it's very dangerous for me to sit here and predict what will happen down the line - [your team] naturally evolves is what I've found over the years.

"At this moment, if I feel the defensive unit is doing alright then there won't be a need to change it, but I don't know what's down the line.

"Dan has to wait for his opportunity and bide his time, train hard every day and show me that real competitive edge. It's more [these days] about the positions you fill on the pitch rather than the shape of the team, you can play a back three but if the opposition plays with one striker the player on the right is basically in midfield because they keep stepping in.

"All these defenders are in competition, really.

"Luke looks to me like a mobile, aggressive defender and in this division you need some mobility in the middle of your defence. "Our defenders all have different qualities and we'll need them all for certain games.

"So Danny Batth isn't lightning quick on the turn but how brilliant was he heading balls away and putting his body on the line against a really strong and direct team in Millwall? Other days, we are going to need Luke's legs and athleticism to deal with the striker who is running into the space behind us.

"There might be an argument that Dan Ballard has both of those strengths, I've not had enough time to really assess just how good he is on the ball to go with his physical attributes. If he is [really good], then all of a sudden you've got a footballer who is probably going to force his way into the team.

"You have to have a logic in how you pick your team according to the opposition's strengths, so we'll need them all."

We know better than to rule out another O'Nien reinvention, but it looks a way off yet and rightly so.