Sunderland's tactical change at West Brom which helped Tony Mowbray's side overcome Danny Batth's injury blow

Not only has the 32-year-old taken on an important leadership role in a young Black Cats side, starting 39 of 44 Championship fixtures this campaign, but he’s also a commanding figure in a squad packed with smaller technical players.

Batth’s absence at The Hawthorns gave West Brom an even greater height advantage as Sunderland faced a side who have scored nine goals directly from corners this term – the third highest in the league behind Sheffield United and Birmingham.

Yet of the four corners Sunderland faced during this impressive 2-1 win, three were headed away with relative ease – two at the front post by Dan Neil and Jack Clarke and one at the back stick by Dennis Cirkin.

As Tony Mowbray explained after the game: "We normally have a mix of zonal and man marking but we went total zonal today, with just one player marking Semi Ajayi.”

That role was given to O’Nien, who was tasked with stopping the 6 ft 4 Ajayi when the ball was delivered into Sunderland’s box.

The only time West Brom did threaten from a corner was when Baggies defender Conor Townsend made a run to the back post and forced a sharp save from goalkeeper Anthony Patterson with a powerful header.

Sunderland had a similar set-up when defending other dead-ball situations, with O’Nien marking Ajayi while his team-mates covered specific zones.

And of the five free-kicks West Brom delivered into the penalty area, Sunderland made first contact on three of them, with only one leading to an effort at goal which forward Brandon Thomas-Asante headed over the crossbar.

Batth’s injury could have also been felt from open play, yet the Black Cats’ makeshift back four stood their ground, with O’Nien and Trai Hume operating as centre-backs alongside Cirkin and Lynden Gooch at full-back.

In possession the visitors’ defence often switched to a back three, with Cirkin tucking into a left-sided centre-back role (he still had the licence to get forward and score two goals), while Gooch and Clarke provided width in attacking wing-back positions.

The transition was often seamless, while Hume won five of his six defensive duels and made nine interceptions (according to Wyscout). Alongside him, O’Nien won five of his nine defensive duels and made four interceptions.

It wasn’t just the defenders who were putting their bodies on the line either, as there was a moment in the second half where the visitors made five successive blocks – with Amad and Pierre Ekwah thwarting opposition players.

Another impressive aspect was Sunderland’s confidence in possession when playing out from the back – even when West Brom attempted to press.

O’Nien was particularly composed when he received the ball in his own half, completing 72 of his 79 attempted passes – including several across his own penalty area.

Of course Mowbray would have preferred to have centre-back duo Batth and Dan Ballard available for such an important fixture. Still, Sunderland found a way to keep their play-off hopes alive.