Sunderland man's defiant automatic promotion message for Leeds United and their Championship rivals — YEP 23/2/25
By Kyle Newbould
Leeds United can further increase the gap on Sunderland when
they face Sheffield United on Monday.
Luke O’Nien insists Sunderland’s current position in the
table is ‘irrelevant’ with so much still to play for in the Championship
promotion race.
Sunderland suffered their second defeat of the week on
Saturday, with goalkeeper Anthony Patterson handing Hull City a 1-0 win at the
Stadium of Light after fumbling Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt’s corner. The
Black Cats were hoping a return home would allow them to bounce back from
Monday’s crushing 2-1 loss at Elland Road but further ground was lost instead.
At least one of Leeds or Sheffield United will increase
their points tally on Monday while Burnley’s Friday night thrashing of
Sheffield Wednesday threatened to cut Sunderland from the chasing pack, an
outcome that looks more likely following their weekend defeat. But a defiant
O’Nien pointed towards the amount of points still to be claimed before May,
urging his teammates to keep pushing forward.
“It's a game-by-game,” O’Nien told the Sunderland Echo when
asked if automatic promotion is beyond his side. “What we do, the systems we
play, every game we play, we've got to evolve and maybe we didn't do that
today, but tomorrow will be a big day for us where the team will get better if
we watch it. I've said it from the start of the season, from the very first
game. We’ve won games and been at the top to where we are at the minute right
now.
“There's a hell of a lot of work to do. When you win a game,
if you go into first or second, it's irrelevant. It's where you are on the 46th
game that's the most important. So there's a lot of minutes to be played, a lot
of points to get picked up and our focus isn't just to win a game, look at the
table and get all emotional. It's win, lose, reflect, make sure the team moves
forward and go towards the next game.”
Sunderland have kept pace with the likes of Leeds for longer
than many expected, with a new manager and young group finding the consistency
to maintain a genuine automatic promotion push. But the Black Cats’ squad also
lacks depth compared to their main rivals and following back-to-back defeats,
there is a growing belief that Regis Le Bris’ side are looking fatigued going
into the all-important run-in.
“I think it's fair to say in my debut season, I remember
getting to this kind of stage of the season and, yeah, maybe feeling a little
bit heavy-legged,” O’Nien admitted. “But that's up to us experienced boys to
lead their offer of advice and guide and support them. But equally, it's just a
90-minute game of football. It's something that we enjoy.
“And if you win, it's going to come a lot easier. So our job
is now to keep winning, create momentum where people, you know, you create
energy. And that's going to be my job now going into tomorrow is to create that
energy.”