Sunderland's utility man Luke O'Nien feels he is now seen primarily as a centre-back - and he is not afraid of increased competition in that role next season. The 28-year-old is about to embark on his sixth season with the Black Cats, and he has played in virtually every outfield position at various times during his time at the club.
He started out in midfield but more recently has played in defence, and for much of last season he operated at centre-back Sunderland's central defensive area is in a period of transition with Dan Ballard and Aji Alese arriving last summer, Jenson Seelt and Nectarios Triantis joining during the current transfer window, while Bailey Wright left last month and Danny Batth has also been linked with a move.
But O'Nien still has an important role to play and he believes the extra competition will raise the bar. He said: "Do you call me a centre-half now?
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"You can call me whatever you want! Listen, I know what my job is and I know what I've got to do.
"If the gaffer wants me or needs me in other positions, then I'll play there. I think I've made that clear over the last five or six years but, yeah, for the minute, I think I'm a centre-half.
"There’s competition at centre-half, but there's been competition everywhere ever since I've been at the club and I think that's healthy and good to have. It drives you forward.
"Competition has always driven me forward, so I'm really looking forward to the new boys coming in. If we're keeping each other out of them, that's good because it's competitive and it means we’re doing well.
"As long as the club is going forward and we're winning, I don't care who is wearing that shirt. It's about the club moving in the right direction."
Wright left Sunderland by mutual consent and his move to Singapore Premier League side Lion City Sailors was confirmed yesterday. O'Nien said: "Bailey is up there as one of the greatest players and humans that I've ever shared a dressing room with.
"His leadership and everything – I don’t think I’ll ever come across another Bailey Wright. What he did for the club, and for me and all the boys, I think he was really exceptional.
"I will miss him."
O'Nien played in Sunderland's first pre-season friendly at the weekend, which saw them beat Julio Arca's National League North side South Shields 4-3 at the 1st Cloud Arena. His mistake played a part in Shields' opening goal, but Sunderland came back with new Portuguese striker Hemir equalising and the other goals saw Jack Clarke on target twice and 16-year-old Chris Rigg scoring an 89th minute winner.
"The results don't really matter, but we're all professionals and you want to put in a good performance," said O'Nien. "I set up their first goal, and like any other game, whether it's the first league game of the season, an FA Cup game or a pre-season game, you're disappointed when something like that happens.
"You still go home and think about it. Everybody in there wants to put in good performances from Day One.
"But it's also about getting to know each other as a team. You want to win, but whether you win or lose, we know there's a lot of work we need to put in over the next few weeks.
"It's all good."
