Luke O'Nien delivers honest dressing-room verdict on Sunderland's Europa League draw with Lech Poznan
Sunderland drew 1-1 with Lech Poznan in Poland on Thursday evening
Luke O'Nien says Sunderland's frustration with their point in Poznan on Thursday evening is a reflection of how far they have travelled in his time at the club.
The Black Cats took an early lead when Timur Tutierov headed home Nilson Angulo's cross, but substitute Leo Bengtsson secured a point for the hosts in the second half. Both teams missed a number of good opportunities in an open game, with Sunderland ultimately left frustrated that they had not taken the opportunity to make it three from three in the Europa League league phase. O'Nien says there are still a lot of areas where Sunderland can improve but that they were placed in this particular competition.
"I think the game has just finished, so it's hard to reflect, and obviously as a defender you want to keep the ball out of the net," O'Nien said.
"We did create some chances, a couple off the post, some great saves from them, a few chances that go wide. So, yeah, listen, I think you can't be too disappointed. I think it shows how far we've come, that we're coming away and we all want three points. There were times where we could have taken that, but seven points from nine in the Europa League.. go back five years, I think we'd have taken that."
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O'Nien believes the Black Cats still have work to do to recapture their very best form from last season but felt the performance in Poland represented a step forward after the Bournemouth defeat last weekend.
"I think it's always about just doing what we've done over the last few years," he said.
"There's no magic formula apart from doing things that brought us success last season, just keep doubling down on them. I think there were parts we did that tonight, still parts we came away from it, and I just keep looking at that, keep going, right, what is us? What's got us to this point? And it's doubling down on that. We've just got to keep tightening up, keep being us, and we keep doing that and keep doing it at high quality. We'll get back to where we need to be."
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