Luke O'Nien felt hard-done-by after giving away a penalty in Sunderland's win at West Brom - but admits he was angry with himself for giving the referee a decision to make. O'Nien took a swipe at the ball just inside the penalty area and missed, and was then penalised after his trailing leg caught Baggies midfielder John Swift.
The contact was minimal and referee John Busby delayed his decision before pointing to the spot on the advice of his assistant, with Swift then stepping up to convert and give his side the lead against the run of play seconds before half-time. But Sunderland came back in the second half with Dennis Cirkin heading the equaliser soon after the break and then scoring again five minutes from time to earn three points which sent the Black Cats into the Championship play-off places.
Of the penalty, O'Nien told Sky Sports: "Listen, I'm annoyed at myself because I gave him [Busby] a decision to make. I don't think it was a penalty but I watch it back and I've got to hold my hands up, I gave the opportunity to give it.
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"I didn’t think it was a pen but it's in the past. As soon as that happens we've got to just regroup, we've got to go again and listen, the way we played in that second half, bodies on the line, scoring down the other end.
"Every single man, the people that came on, I'm just so proud of the boys and have just got so much emotion in me and it's all happiness."
The win capped an incredible weekend for O'Nien, who travelled down to the Midlands on the day of the game having lingered on Wearside to be with his wife as she gave birth to son Jude, their second child. "Congratulations to my wife, we had our little one," said O'Nien.
"I don't know what day it is today. I was just thinking of her, my little man at home, my family. There was kind of a tear in my eye at full-time, kind of just through being a bit tired.
"Ali [Alessandro Barcherini] the goalie coach drove me down and I can't thank him enough for that. He said 'whatever you need.' To my wife at home, and my little boy and my little girl, those guys are just everything to me so that's all for them."
Sunderland's win meant they climbed to sixth place in the table with two games of their season remaining. They face Watford - the club where O'Nien started his career - at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
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