With Regis Le Bris rotating his side to keep players fresh, results in recent weeks have been mixed, with the Black Cats now winless in their last three ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Blackburn Rovers.
But that doesn’t mean momentum has disappeared, says Luke O’Nien, who believes that much-craved factor doesn’t depend purely on results.
“Momentum comes in different ways,” says the defender.
“You can look at it in black and white terms of wins, but you can look at Eli’s goal and the way we defended with 10 men which was very good.
“If you look at the season as a whole there is momentum right, there because of the feeling we’ve developed in the group. We’re a confident bunch and after games we always look at exactly where we need to do better.”
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Friday’s game at Bristol City might well turn out to have been a dress rehearsal for the play-offs. In recent weeks, Sunderland have now lost to both the Robins and Coventry – two sides who they could meet again next month – but that won’t matter in the play-offs, says O’Nien, who has a simple message.
“We’ve got no fears about anyone,” he said.
“We’re confident going into any game and any team the play-offs throw our way, we will focus really hard on what we’ve got to do and give the best version of ourselves.
“I’m proud of the lads because we’ve built up a reputation where we go into every game expecting to win.
“Now we’ve built up an expectation and at the start of the season I’d have snapped off your hand for this feeling we’ve got and when we don’t win we’re really disappointed.
“We’ve created that through a lot of hard work and now we’ve got to back it up with the wins we know we are good enough to go out and get.”
O’Nien was proud of Sunderland’s defensive effort at Ashton Gate after going down to 10 men early on – and was blown away by what he saw at the other end when Eliezer Mayenda put the Black Cats ahead in the first half.
He said: “I can say pretty confidently that it’s the best goal I’ve seen live, and I would be amazed if I saw that topped.
“But it’s not even a surprise because we’ve seen him do that in training. He’s sharp and his temperament is incredible. A lot of the lads aren’t surprised because of what I see in training.
“He’s one of the sharpest players I’ve ever come across so I’m glad he scored that goal which is one of the best I’ve ever seen
“I’ve never seen a player before who when he receives the ball 70 yards from goal that I think ‘he’s going to score here’ but that just shows what sort of player we’ve got.
“And I’m really enjoying seeing him develop since the day he joined he’s worked hard after what wasn’t the easiest of starts but he sets the perfect example for any player who joins us.
“He’s worked hard, got his head down and now he’s reaping the rewards and there’s a lot more to come from him.”
