"Deserved three points" - Luke O'Nien issues bold Sunderland AFC claims after Sheffield United loss | OneFootball

Luke O'Nien insists Sunderland are still in a good place following their defeat to Sheffield United

Sunderland's Luke O'Nien insists that the Black Cats are still in a good place following Friday night's 1-0 defeat to fellow promotion chasers Sheffield United.

Patrick Roberts missed a golden opportunity from the penalty spot to put Regis Le Bris' side in the lead during the first half, 10 minutes before defender Chris Mepham was sent off.

When Mepham was shown a red card, the Black Cats seemingly had a mountain to climb in order to yield any points from their trip to Bramall Lane, but Blades centre-back Harry Souttar soon joined the Wales international in being dismissed from the action, as he picked up his second yellow card.

However, a late goal from substitute Tom Davies snatched the three points for the Blades, and consigned the Black Cats to a defeat which could be damaging to their automatic promotion quest.

Luke O'Nien makes Sunderland admission following Sheffield United defeat

Despite his side's defeat on the road, Sunderland club captain O'Nien believes that their performance was deserving of earning all three points in South Yorkshire, and that they are not far off from being the complete team.

"The team is in a good place," O'Nien told the Sunderland Echo

"We're close to being really, really good.

"We don't have to change too much, it's just fine details, and we're just going to have to put a little more thought and care into it so we can turn these games our way.

"We know we're a good team.

"We deserved three points more though, of course, having said that, we know we have to turn these performances into wins.

"But the performance was there, and I think it has been for the last five or six games.

"We know we're a good team, but we've got to reference (the disappointment) of this game, training has got to have a bit of extra bite this week.

"We've got to win a lot more games because of this loss today, you carry these performances with you and the disappointment, hearing them celebrating.

"We're going to use this as a catalyst to win more games because of it.

"In the long run, consistency always wins.

"You stay consistent and keep doing the things that have served you well, you learn and move forward both individually and collectively."

Sunderland must use O'Nien comments as motivation

The Black Cats have sat top of the Championship table for large parts of the campaign so far, but a run of six games without a win has seen them slip down to fourth, albeit just five points behind the Blades who now lead the way, and a mere three points adrift of second place Burnley.

However, as alluded to by O'Nien, Sunderland's performances throughout their last six games, which included five draws as well as their Bramall Lane defeat, have still been strong.

Le Bris' men must now use O'Nien's comments to motivate them to turn their strong approach play into a vital three-point return when they take on Stoke City next Saturday.